Through the heart of Africa : being an account of a journey on bicycles and on foot from Northern Rhodesia, past the Great Lakes, to Egypt, undertaken

'l^^^ PRINCETON. N. J.

Purchased by the Mary Cheves Dulles Fund.

Di-vision

Section-

Digitized by tine Internet Arcliive
in 2015

https://archive.org/details/througlilieartofafOOmell

THROUGH THE HEART OF AFRICA

The Kalambo P'ai.ls.

THROUGH THE
HEART OF AFRICA

Being an Account of a Journey on Bicycles
and on Foot from Northern Rhodesia,
past the Great Lakes, to Egypt,
undertaken when proceeding
home on leave in 19 lo

FRANK H. MELLAND

F.R.G.S. F.Z.S., F.R.A.I.

AND

EDWARD H. CHOLMELEY

F.R.A.I.

" Africa, in relation to world politics, is but an annex of Europe,
geographically as well as, now, by pre-emption" — Capt. Mahan

BOSTON AND NEW YORK

HOUGHTON MIFFLIN COMPANY
1912

Printed by Bali.ANTYNE, HansoN &' Cc.
At the Ballantyne Press, Edinburgh

TO

OUR MOTHERS

WE DEDICATE
THIS ACCOUNT OF OUR JOURNEY

ACKNOWLEDGMENT

We owe our thanks to all who on our journey
answered our numerous questions and supplied us
with information, to many friends who by their
sympathy and encouragement have helped us to
write this record of our travels, and to Mr. L. A.
Wallace, Administrator of Northern Rhodesia, but
for whose kindness, in allowing us time to work at
it after our return from leave, this book could not
have been written.

F. H. M., E. H. C.

LivijJGSTONE, Northern Rhodesia,
Jtme 191 1.

CONTENTS

I

TO THE GERMAN BORDER

PAGE

Introductory — Reasons for journey — Preliminary preparations —
Method of travel — The start — Kasama— Abercorn — Kawimbe
Mission — Mishap to one bicycle — Kalambo Falls . . . i

II

BISMARCKBURG AND LYANGALILE

Lake Tanganyika — Bismarckburg — Life in a German fort — Journey
to Mwazye — The French Fathers — Notes on the Watwaki
rulers in Lufipa — Religious beliefs of the Wakuluwe . . lo

III

RUKWA

A steep descent — Attractive native dance — The horrors of the
bufTalo-bean — Meeting with the Mutwaki ruler Sa — Tribal
characteristics of the Wakwa — Simba Mission — Negro nuns —
Curious customs and beliefs of the Wakwa .... 26

IV

RUKWA TO TABORA

Game on the Kavu River — A long stalk — Euphorbia-stockaded

villages — Unintentional change of route — Reception by

Muchereka, Mulungwa chief — And by Kasamia — "Tembo"

architecture — Prevalence of tsetse fly— Sport on the Ugalla

River — Kalula, chief of the Wagunda — Belt of good timber,

with sawpits — Arrival at Tabora . . , . , . 42

ix

X

CONTENTS

V

TABOR A

PACK

Cordial reception by the officials — Engagement of carriers — The
market — Tlie mission — Description of the town — Absence of
any form of recreation grounds — Herr Siegel, the Distrikts
Kommissar — Transport via the Uganda Railway — Curious
contention of the Germans — The effect of the German railway
from Dar-es-Salam on this traffic and on Tabora • • • 59

VI

TABORA TO MWANZA

Encounter with party of missionaries — Curious rock formation at
Ngaya — Notes on the Wanyamwezi — Game on the Mbala
Plain — Soap and oil factory at Salabwe — Scenery on Mwanza
Gulf — Carriers on road — Arrival at Mwanza .... 69

VII

MWANZA AND THE ADMINISTRATION OF GERMAN
EAST AFRICA

Description of Mwanza — Perambulations and perplexities — Pro-
tracted negotiations with the Customs department — General
impressions of German East Africa — The country, natives,
markets and small coinage, climate — An examination of the
old regime and the new 84

VIII

THE VICTORIA NYANZA AND THE UGANDA RAILWAY

The s.s. Sybil — Our fellow-passengers — Bukoba — Baganda canoes
— Bukakata — Entebbe — The raising of the game licence — De-
finite choice of itinerary — An impression of the beauties of
Entebbe — The police sports — Kind reception and hospitality
— The ill-fated bicycle — The Ripon Falls — Meeting with Dr.
Milne — Port Florence — Scenery on the railway . . . 103

CONTENTS

xi

IX

BRITISH EAST AFRICA

PAGE

Nairobi — The derelict bicycle is repaired — Visits to dentist, photo-
grapher, and other business— Journey to Punda Milia by motor
— View of Mount Kenia — Attack of fever — A sisal farm — Sport
— Return to Nairobi — Hospitality of the residents — The race-
meeting — Lottery night at the Club — Meeting with Wawemba
soldiers — Return to Port Florence — Impressions of the country
and of the natives — Prospects for intending settlers . .116

X

RETURN TO ENTEBBE AND BY MOTOR TO MUBENDI

Across the lake on the s.s. Cletnetit Hill — The Entebbe Customs —
Botanical Gardens — Preparations for journey north — The golf-
links — Further impressions of Entebbe — Departure by motor-
waggon — Rain at Kampala — Wonders of the motor road — Its
maintenance — "Mosquito Camp" — Our fellow-passengers and
the prospects for settlers — Mishap to the car and other in-
cidents— Mubendi — Meeting with the Acting Governor . . 136

XI

MUBENDI TO HOIMA

Our new carriers — A chief's house and garden — The civilisation
of the Baganda — System of feeding carriers — Rate of pay —
Agricultural development — The cotton industry — A native
market — Bukumi mission — Elephant grass — Our camp —
Crossing a swamp — Hoima — Ivory poaching in the Congo —
A Nubian wedding at the military camp — Marriage laws of
the Banyoro — -Land settlement and communications in the
Bunyoro province — Missions at Hoima — Start for Bugoma . 154

XII

ELEPHANT HUNTING NEAR THE ALBERT NYANZA

The "Kabaka" of Bunyoro — Heavy rain — The Bugoma forest —
Colobus monkeys — Death of our dogs — ^After elephant in
"elephant grass" — Helplessness of the hunter Duawiri — The
Albert Nyanza — Our first elephant — A wet night — Example
of native stupidity — An important change in our projected

CONTENTS

' PACE

itinerary — More elephants near the lake — A big one wounded
and lost — More blank days in difficult country — The forest
hog — A herd of elephants bogged in a stream — Return to
Hoitna 172

XIII

ELEPHANT HUNTING IN THE MASINDI DISTRICT— I

Sale of our ivory at Hoima — A civet cat — Total eclipse of the
moon — Encounter with Captain Tufnell — Masindi — Elephant
hunting in a forest belt — Our second elephant — Blank days
near Samusoni's and Benjamin's 191

XIV

ELEPHANT HUNTING IN THE MASINDI DISTRICT— II

The Victoria Nile at Kishilisi — Jackson's hartebeeste and steinbok
— Back to Kiliandongo's — More blank days after elephants —
Risks run by shamba dwellers — Our carriers go on strike, but
are appeased — Still more blank days — Our third elephant— An
evening outing — Crossing the Nile — Palango — Repatriation
of our Rhodesian natives — Arrival of Captain Place . . 204

XV

THROUGH THE LANGO AND ACHOLI COUNTRY

The Lango — The system of governing through Baganda agents —
Description of the clothing, ornaments, accoutrements, villages,
and huts of the Lango — Start from Palango — Our escorts and
carriers — Travelling in the Lango country — Two swampy
rivers — Mount Moru — Reception at Mwaka's— The Lango at
work— Mwaka's " army " — Gulu — The Acholi — A hunting
party — Oliya's village— His cadet corps — More trouble with
the bicycle — Nimule 218

XVI

NIMULE TO GONDOKORO

Uninviting country — The Assua River — Arrangements for food
supply and extra carriers — Christmas Day — Ledju, the rain-
maker— Rejaf — Arrival at Gondokoro — Sale of our camp kit
— Arrival of the Gordon Pasha — Notes on Uganda and its
administration 243

CONTENTS

xiii

XVII

THE SOUDAN

PAGE

The Gordon Pasha — New Year's Eve at Lado — Mongalla — The
Dinka tribe — An old friend — The sudd — The Bahr-el-Ghazal
and Sobat — Kodok — The White Nile railway bridge —
Khartoum — Omdurman — Khalifa's palace, Mahdi's tomb, and
market-place — School and hospital — The Gordon College —
The Nubian Desert — Wady Haifa 260

XVIII

EGYPT

Down the Nile to Shellal — Phila? and the Dam — Asswan — Luxor
— The temples of Thebes and the tombs of the kings — Karnak
and Luxor temples — Abydos — Cairo — Tura — The Pyramids in
sleet — Port Said — End of our journey — Retrospect — Notes on
clothes, rifles, cameras 273

XIX

SOME AFRICAN PROBLEMS

The rapid opening up of Africa by rail and river, and some reflec-
tions on the problems that this development is presenting . 28&

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS

The Kalambo P'alls Frontispiece

FACING PAGE

A Mambwe village 6

Magistrate's Office, Abercorn ........ 6

Mwazye Mission .......... 12

Kifanyula, our Munyampala, Gun Boy, Bicycle Boy, and other

German East African carriers 12

Old Mufipa Man 14

Kiatu, the Mutwaki Chief of the senior branch of the Wa Fipa . 14

" A magnificent tree . . . under which we pitched our camp" . 28

The Community of Black Nuns . 32

" The composure of her bearing . . . sadly marred by ill-fitting

dress, straw sombrero, and ammunition boots " . . . -34
" A fine church was in the course of construction " . . . -34
"Two solitary fangs in a mobile and humorous mouth " . . -44

Making native beer .......... 44

Another photo of little Mbaula ........ 44

Native utensils, "bellows, ladles, and trays " ..... 48

Drawing water from a water hole in a village near the Ugalla . 48

One of the Authors in his travelling Clothes at Kelula ... 52

" We bagged a leopard " 52

A Tembo village (to right of background). Beehives in trees in

the foreground '54

In a Mugunda village. In the foreground is a native bed . . 54
" The Mission House is a fine specimen of an old Arab dwelling " . 62
"The soap vendors . . . sitting . . . sedulously working speci-
mens of it into a lather " 62

A fine old Arab carved doorway at Tabora (in an Arab house) . 64

Chiefs house at Kahama 72

Natives threshing Kafir Corn 72

A balanced rock at Mwanza 84

View from our camp at Mwanza 84

A memorial to Bismarck near our camp 86

b

xvi LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS

PACING PACE

At Bukoba, Victoria Nyanza, the " Sybil" and Baganda canoes . 104

" Red, green-edged roads " 104

Ripon Falls 112

Port Florence civilisation : the Quay 114

The Uganda Railway 114

Nairobi Station 116

Government House, front view 116

Suburban houses on "The Hill" 118

Nairobi Races : the Grand Stand 118

Breaking up the land on an East African farm . . . .124

Two-year sisal at Punda Milia 124

Mr. Alison Russell and his Bougainvillea-covered porch . . 140
The Uganda Government motor-car on the road . . . .140

" The finest bit of engineering on the road" 152

Mr. Stanley Tomkins, Acting Governor of Uganda . . .152

Fencing Yekula's Garden 156

Allotting our loads to carriers at Mubendi 156

Bukumi Mission 158

The Dwelling-house, Bukumi 158

Resting in a " Banda " 164

Ferrying our loads across a swamp on Papyrus rafts . . . 164

Looking for elephants on the Albert Nyanza 174

The Kabaka's Dancers 174

Our First Elephant 178

Bargaining 178

In Camp 196

The D.C.'s House at Masindi 196

Our Second Elephant 202

"The stripping and uprooting of several large trees" . . . 202

Chumamaboko standing by a Jackson's hartebeeste . . . 204

Preparing to cross the Nile 216

Fish basket on the Victoria Nile 216

Ferrying cattle on the channels abutting on the \'ictoria Nile . 218

Borassus Palms 220

Weighing our third pair of tusks in camp 220

" Costume consisting chiefly of tattoo marks, a small girdle round
the waist, from which hangs, in front, a miniature apron ... of
iron chain-work . . . or strands of hair, and behind . . . along

tail hangs down to the ground " 222

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS

xvii

FACING PAGE

"The men ... of fine physique, occasionally wear a skin loin-

cloth, but more often a small skin apron is suspended from . . .

a corset of . . . grass " 224

Mwaka's Army 226

" The doorways are more or less circular and very low " . . . 226

Old Lango Woman 236

" There were some lounges ... of most original design " . . 236
"Young Acholi Bloods . . . even more tightly laced than their

Lango neighbours " 23S

" Oliya's son, clad in a goat-skin and a walking-stick . . . 240
"A Headman of the Lango Chief and one of Mwaka's sons who

came through to Gondokoro with us " 242

Looking across the Nile to Rejaf 248

The D.C.'s House at Gondokoro 248

Gondokoro Post Boat going upstream 264

Inland Dinka hut 264

Ash-covered Dinka 266

Dinka woman making mats 266

Primitive irrigation on the Nile 268

White Nile Bridge, the centre span swinging 268

Map of the Route At e?id.

" One of the pleasantest things in the world is
going a journey." — Hazlitt

THROUGH THE HEART
OF AFRICA

I

TO THE GERMAN BORDER

Introductory — Reasons for journey — Preliminary preparations — Method
of travel — The start — Kasama — Abercorn — Kawimbe Mission —
Mishap to one bicycle — Kalambo Falls.

The question that probably first suggests itself to the
majority of readers of books of travel in Africa or in any
uncivilised quarter of the globe, namely, what was the
object of the journey and what was to be gained by it, is
not a difficult one to answer to the satisfaction of those,
now growing year by year more numerous, who know
first hand the call of Africa, and the peculiar fascination
of life and travel in the so-called inhospitable or savage
interior. The motives that have inspired others to under-
take journeys through latitudes that to the uninitiated
may seem uninviting, are almost as numerous as the
travellers themselves. That of many has been exploration,
of others commercial enterprise, of many the extension of
missionary work, of others the pursuit of scientific in-
vestigation, while for some it has been merely for sport or
in the spirit of adventure. Of ourselves we need merely
say that, after years of residence in the Northern and
least known province of Rhodesia, with a thorough ac-
quaintance with the ordinary ways of reaching and leaving
the continent, inspired by a craving to know something
more of what lay beyond us, we decided to travel home

A

2

THROUGH THE HEART OF AFRICA

by the countries to the North of us, instead of by the
more beaten tracks. The probabiHty that our acquaint-
ance with a similar country would enable us the better
to observe and more justly appreciate what we saw than
the traveller or sportsman paying perhaps his only visit to
the continent, helped to encourage us in the hope that a
journey that was bound to occupy at least the greater part
of our vacation leave would not be without result as a
useful and educative experience. Moreover, the somewhat
conflicting, though interesting, nature of the accounts of
such countries from the pens of temporary residents and
other travellers, as well as from visitors with whom we had
come in contact, formed to us, interested as we were both
in the African native and the possibilities and develop-
ment of his country, an extra incentive to a first-hand
study of the conditions in the neighbouring territories.

It was as early as 1907 that we definitely decided to
go home through German East Africa to the Victoria
Nyanza, and thence to proceed either through Uganda to
the Soudan, and down the Nile to Cairo, or, after a short
tour in Uganda, to travel down through British East Africa
to Mombasa, halting at some of the more interesting places
en route, and seeing what we could of the surrounding
country. The final choice of routes had to remain un-
decided until we could be quite sure that circumstances,
such as time and health, would permit of our first plan
being carried out. In the meantime, besides acquiring
and perusing a few of the works and official publications
that deal with the conditions prevailing in some of the
countries through which we intended to pass, we devoted
ourselves to the collection of such various information
and data as could be of use to us during the journey.

In addition to the published works, and information
kindly furnished us by the various Government secretariats,
we had the advantage of the notes and itineraries com-
piled by our friends Messrs. A. De L. Long and P. K.
Glazebrook, Mr. J. B. Don, and the late Mr. George Grey,
whose tragic death is deeply and universally regretted in
those parts of Africa in which he spent so many years of

TO THE GERMAN BORDER

3

his life. The two first named had in the course of two
of their visits to the continent travelled through German
East Africa, and from Entebbe to Gondokoro ; Mr. Don
had a little more recently bicycled from King Williams-
town to the Albert Nyanza ; while Mr. Grey had made a
careful cyclometer record of the direct route from Aber-
corn through German East Africa to the Victoria Nyanza ;
but there were, as a matter of fact, but two short stages
during which we followed the route taken by any of these
travellers, as our object was rather to avoid than follow
the beaten tracks, but their itineraries were useful as a
stand-by, and enabled us at least on one occasion to
contradict the exaggerated estimate of the distance
between camps that our carriers would have had us
believe.

As for method of travel and transport, the journey
from Rhodesia to the Soudan would, we knew, have to
be performed in the manner to which we had been accus-
tomed in the course of our duties : complete equipment
and a large supply of provisions would have to be carried
by native porters, while we ourselves went partly on foot
and partly on bicycle.

In those parts of Central Africa where the existence
of tsetse fly renders the use of all transport animals
impossible, the usual method of personal conveyance has
been for some years the machila or hammock, slung on a
pole and carried on the shoulders of natives, but this is
now becoming largely superseded by the use of the
bicycle ; and we had long since learnt, what will probably
come as a surprise to many, that really a very consider-
able proportion not only of the cleared tracks, but also of
the native paths in Central Africa provide almost as good
a surface for cycling as could be desired. The fact that
we used bicycles has perhaps given rise to an erroneovis
idea that our intention was simply to get through the
country travelling as quickly as possible from point to
point, and accompanied by few if any native carriers or
impedimenta. As a matter of fact, though this can be and
has been done, our machines were never meant to provide

4 THROUGH THE HEART OF AFRICA

anything more than a rehef from the fatigue and monotony
of foot slogging. To this extent their use in Africa is
considerable, but it must not be supposed that it enables
one to travel any greater distances, or affects the fact that
the day's trek has to be entirely regulated according to
the capacity of one's carriers.

The problems that remained to be solved were to what
extent, and where, we could rely on obtaining carriers en
route, and how far we should have to carry provisions to
last us for the whole journey.

For a journey straight through to Gondokoro, the
latter would have been a matter of no great difficulty, as it
could be performed in something like two months, but as
we intended to see something of the countries on our way,
to spend some five or six months in doing so, it was not
so easy of solution. Even for a short trip of three or four
weeks, it is difficult to travel in any comfort with less than
thirty carriers ; tents, beds and bedding, cooking utensils,
crockery, provisions, lamps, guns and ammunition have to
be taken, and in loads averaging at the most fifty lbs. in
weight.

For a journey therefore of six months, during which
we knew but vaguely to what extent we could re-stock
such provisions as tea, coffee, flour, sugar, and other
necessities, and as we were also obliged — since we were
after all proceeding on leave to England — to carry a
certain quantity of respectable clothing, a caravan of sixty
porters, which included the carriers of drugs, carbide,
cameras, books, five loads of spirit tanks, and other
apparatus for the preservation of zoological specimens,
was, for two travellers, by no means an excessive
allowance.

Experience in African travel, moreover, shows that,
without indulging in luxuries, it is a mistake, especially
when a tent has to be one's home for half a year, to
deprive oneself of a few creature comforts for the sake of
lessening one's impedimenta by two or three loads. An
extra table or two and a few books add considerably to
one's comfort, and anything that tends to alleviate the

TO THE GERMAN BORDER

5

inconveniences of camp life is worth considering in its
effect on temper and health.

As personal attendants we took with us a couple of
boys each, including a cook, with two gun-bearers, one of
whom knowing Swahili would be useful as an interpreter,
and a hunter, especially experienced in spooring elephants.
All had been in the service of one or the other of us for
some years, and expressed their readiness to accompany
us to any point from which they could be safely repatri-
ated. AH except two were Wawemba, the exceptions being
natives who had lived for some years in the Wawemba
country.

We left our stations in the middle of July, and met at
Kasama towards the end of the month, after journeys of
no particular incident. The difficulties of starting on any
sort of expedition from an out of the way corner of Africa
are of course considerably greater than when starting from
England, and the vagaries of local transport were suffi-
ciently brought home to us by the delay of nearly a month
in the arrival of one of our machines.

After a pleasant sojourn with old friends at Kasama,
enlivened by tennis and golf, — an interval which was
spent re-sorting our baggage and reducing the number of
our caravan — we left at 3 P.M. on July the 26th, and cycled
easily to our first camp six miles out, whither our loads
had preceded us, accompanied by Mr. R. A. Osborne
(Inspector of Labour Recruiting), whose way thus far lay
with ours.

The journey to Abercorn was not remarkable, except
as affording us an example of a rather extraordinary bit
of scenery, of a really impossible bit of road, of the utter
hopelessness of relying on the evidence of raw natives as
to the size and accessibility of a herd of elephants, and
being the scene of the first bicycle breakdown.

The impossibility of the road was simply due to the
fact that it had been recently banked up and re-made, and
that its surface was so much like half-frozen plough that
the only parts that were rideable were the gutters at the
side.

6 THROUGH THE HEART OF AFRICA

The unusual scenery was the saltpans which lie some
six miles south of Abercorn. These are two huge natural
hollow amphitheatres lying side by side, one of them being
remarkably symmetrical in shape, separated by a narrow
neck of land on which runs the road. When the
grass is burnt they are the resorts of large quantities
of game.

The elephant episode occurred about half-way, took
us off our line, and occupied us a couple of days. There
were two beasts still due on one of our licences, and a
herd being reported close to the road it was a chance not
to be lost. Crops and grain stores had been annihilated,
and we were assured that the marauders were the largest
of bull elephants, and, when we got to the scene, that
they could not be more than half an hour away. But
the natives' accuracy had been affected by a desire to
avenge the depredation of their larders and to encourage
our aspirations. It took us a little more than half an
hour, not to come up with them, but to discover that they
were miles away, and that they consisted of nothing but
cows and calves, and we lost no time in abandoning the
spoor,returning to the main road. When we struck it, fortu-
nately it had not been so newly top-dressed, and the last
day or two into Abercorn it was really good riding. The
bicycle breakdown might have been a serious one if we
had not discovered that a perfect substitute could be made
from the end of a Snider ramrod for a chain bolt that was
lost — luckily just on reaching the village at which we were
intending to camp — and emphasised for the first time the
advisability of carrying every possible combination of spare
parts.

The last day into Abercorn, twenty-five miles, we left
our carriers behind, and got in by ourselves in time for
lunch with Mr. Leyer (the Assistant Magistrate) and Mrs.
Leyer.

In the next five days we enjoyed ourselves so much
that it was quite a wrench to get started on our journey
proper. Besides some excellent lawn tennis, we enjoyed
the rare luxury of two or three rides on donkey and

Macustrate's Okfice, Abekcorn.

TO THE GERMAN BORDER 7

horse back ; for, with extraordinary skill and precaution,
Mr. Layer had succeeded some twelve months before
in bringing up three of the latter through the fly belt
between Broken Hill and Abercorn, and two were still
living and doing well. The day before our departure we
bicycled out to Kawimbe to the London Missionary
Society Mission which had been established since 1887.
The Principal, Mr. Govan Robertson, was away ; but
owing to the kindness of Mrs. Robertson and Dr. and Mrs.
Wareham, we much enjoyed our visit to one of the oldest
missions in North-Eastern Rhodesia. It is beautifully
situated in the Amambwe country ; its comfortable dwell-
ings and the magnificent rows of gums and cypress make
it one of the most attractive and homelike settlements in
this corner of Africa. It was on our way out that the
catastrophe occurred that was seriously to affect the
comfort of our travelling throughout German East Africa.
For some inexplicable reason best known to the makers
thereof, when three miles from our destination, the two-
speed gear of one of our cycles spontaneously and violently
refused either to do its own work or let the other parts
of the machine do theirs, and proved, on a careful exa-
mination, to be such a complete wreck that it was
obvious that the machine was no longer of the slightest
use until the broken parts could be replaced. It was
5.30 P.M. before we finally despaired of a remedy ; but
in spite of the approaching dusk, and no small disappoint-
ment at the disaster, there was nothing for it but to
trudge the twelve miles back to Abercorn on foot. So
accompanied by our two dogs, an odd native or two
to carry the bicycles and a lanthorn, we arrived at
about half-past eight, in time to meet on the outskirts
of the township a relief party sent out to find us, feeling
ready to do more than justice to the excellent meal that
we had kept waiting so long. It was not altogether an
amusing walk — chafing as we were at the thought that
the conveniences of transport had been reduced for six
weeks by 50 per cent., the heels were coming off a
pair of locally bought cycling boots, and the roughnesses

8 THROUGH THE HEART OF AFRICA

of the road were almost worse in the flickering gleams
of a stable lanthorn than they would have been in the
dark ; but as we neared the end of it, and began to get
used to the situation, we could not fail to enjoy the
eerie stillness of the African night and the faint glitter
of ten million stars on the waters of Lake Chila down
on our left as we turned the last corner and up the hill
into Abercorn. The next day a cable was despatched
to the makers in London ordering a new mechanism to
meet us at Entebbe, and we left Abercorn on the 6th of
August prepared to make the best of one bicycle between
us until we reached Uganda.

As far as Abercorn, we had taken carriers from our
own districts ; beyond that the " Epidemic and Contagious
Diseases Regulations " forbids them to travel, so a new
gang had to be procured to take us to the German border
(about 20 miles) and here we were met by our first
German East African carriers, whom the Officer in Charge
at Bismarckburg had kindly procured for us. These men
would not hear of going with us as far as Mwanza, so
we had to be content with engaging them for the first
section to Tabora only. Close to the west of the point
at which the path to Bismarckburg crosses the Kalambo
River, which forms part of the boundary with German
East Africa, is one of the most striking little waterfalls in
the world. The river is but a streamlet, some 40 to 50
feet across, and in the dry season has but a slender volume
of water, but the mere depth of the narrow gorge into
which it tumbles, 700 feet sheer drop, lifts it out of the
insignificance suggested by its size.

For some miles after leaving Abercorn (which is
5000 feet above sea-level) we had been steadily descending,
when we reached the end of a long ridge from which,
through the wooded clefts to our left, we had really our
first sight of the waters of Lake Tanganyika, and saw
some 800 or 900 feet below us a little village nestling in
a smooth fertile valley hardly a mile broad. It seemed
incredible that close at hand there could be room for so
huge a drop twixt that and the level of the great lake.

TO THE GERMAN BORDER 9

The wooded ridges at either side increased the deception,
and gave no clue of what they hid.

The descent of the gorge itself, though possible, is
tedious, and as we had no time to make it we contented
ourselves by lying flat on a dry spot on the lip of the
fall watching the baboons skipping away up the steep cliff
sides and the marabout storks circling about like swallows
below us, and trying to realise the tremendous depth to
the pool below — insignificant enough at that height, but,
as a matter of fact, as yet unfathomed. The hills at either
side of the gorge rise, just west of the cascade, to a height
of some 400 or 500 feet, giving the gorge in some places
a total depth of nearly a quarter of a mile. Narrow at
first, it widens considerably at the top, and keeps for some
distance an average breadth of some 200 yards.

No photograph had been previously taken that will
show the whole height of the cascade, and none that lacks
colour will ever do full justice to its beauty. Ours was
secured at a distance of from half to three-quarters of a
mile, from a precarious foothold on the face of a curve
in the gorge. It shows the whole 700 feet of the cascade,
the pool being just visible beyond the projecting terraces
of cliff.

The following morning, after dismissing our Abercorn
carriers and allotting our loads to the new gang, we crossed
the boundary, and began the journey through German
East Africa.

II

BISMARCKBURG AND LYANGALILE

Lake Tanganyika— Bismarckburg — Life in a German Fort — Journey to
Mwazye — The French Fathers — Notes on the Watwaki rulers in
Lufipa — Religious beliefs of the Wakuluwe.

Some ten miles along a winding path through waterless
forest and over stony switchback hills brought us to the
ridge overlooking the blue waters of Tanganyika, and
from some rocks by the path, on which we rested, we had
a magnificent view of Bismarckburg Bay, and could see
across the lake — which is narrow at this point — to the
Belgian side. The bay is practically a replica of Torbay :
the contour is almost identical, and the general appearance
very similar, though on a grander scale, albeit instead of
civilisation there is nothing visible but untamed nature,
for the fort itself is just hidden round a corner, and even
the telegraph wire to Ujiji and the roads leading to that
port and to Kilimatinde and Neu Langenburg do not
obtrude upon the view.

The descent was precipitous and tiring, and it was
fully an hour before we reached the little valley at our
feet, which formed a delta of refreshing green fertilised
by the waters of a mountain stream whose winding course
was traceable for miles away to the north-east. After a
wash and brush up at the stream, we turned to the broad
macadamised road leading away on our left up to the fort.

This occupies the end of a small promontory which
rises some fifty feet sheer out of the lake, and is cut off
from the mainland by a loopholed wall stretching right
across from cliff to cliff, in the centre of which is the large
double gate that gives the only access to within.

At the gate we were held up for two minutes by a
pompous native sentry, who with difficulty roused himself

BISMARCKBURG AND LYANGALILE ii

from the indolent ease with which he and his colleagues
were enjoying the luxury of cheap cigarettes and deck
chairs — a peculiar sensation for us — until he received some
assurance or other from within that he might let us pass.

Once inside, we were courteously and hospitably
received by the Acting Commandant, Lieutenant Wach,
with whom we were fortunately able to converse through
the medium of French. He kindly provided us with
most comfortable quarters within the fort, made us guests
at his mess as long as we were there, and two quite
pleasant days were spent there with a German journalist
for a fellow-guest.

We welcomed the opportunity afforded us by the
courtesy of our host of learning something of the details
of official life and routine. At a station like Bismarck-
burg, which now holds the position of a sub-station to
Ujiji, the duties are far from onerous. The customs work
is not large, the trial of native cases occupies little more
than half an hour per week — the consequence of a system
under which the greater part of native litigation is dealt
with by the JVa/i or Government-appointed district head-
man, who has the power to grant or refuse to applicants
the right to come before the white man's court, just as
he pleases.

Postal and telegraph business is conducted by non-
commissioned officers and native clerks. But little
district travelling is done, and the irreducible minimum
required is regarded as irksome. Tennis courts, rifle
ranges, and other means of recreation are conspicuous
by their absence, and the life of the occupants of
Bismarckburg, whose sole form of exercise seemed to be
a short stroll at sundown outside the walls of their fort,
did not impress us as very exhilarating.

The methods in vogue in this district are those of the
old military administration, which is little more than a
military occupation, and the lack of keenness amongst
the officials is scarcely to be wondered at. They are
Officers seconded from the German army for two years
duty in Africa, which count as four in their total service ;

12 THROUGH THE HEART OF AFRICA

they spend some four months traveUing between the
coast and their stations, and possibly another two on
transfer to a different district ; so that the average time
spent in a country and in duties that are equally strange to
them probably averages rather less than more than twenty
months. Hence it is not surprising that the majority
of them look forward to nothing but the day that they
will leave Africa for good to return to the Fatherland.

Before leaving Bismarckburg we took an opportunity
of changing part of our English gold into German cur-
rency (rupees and heller of which lOo go to the rupee),
and found that while the official exchange was Rs.15 the
Indian traders were willing, and even anxious, to give us
as much as Rs.17 for ^i, as English gold was much
sought after for purposes of trading principally in ivory
in the Congo.

After completing these financial transactions partly by
means of Ki-Swahili, but chiefly by signs, and persuading
our new carriers that their demand for a month's food
allowance in advance was scarcely reasonable for a trip
which was probably going to take but three weeks, we
left for Rukwa at noon of loth August. We had decided
to make this detour partly on account of the Rukwa
Valley being but little known, and partly in the hope of
being able to obtain some specimens of the local fish,
none of which had hitherto found a place in any European
museum. When bidding us farewell, our hosts were
deeply concerned on our behalf when they learnt that
our next stage was going to be across country, away from
the " burra-burra," or main road, and the indispensable
conveniences of regular camps.

Between here and Rukwa we were travelling amongst
mixed tribes all known merely as " Shenzis " to the local
official, to distinguish them from the Swahili or pseudo-
Swahili, through whom they are administered ; and we
were much interested to learn from a Walungu chief named
Kaleka, at whose village we camped three days out, that
his people were akin to the section similarly named under
Chitoshi living at the south-west of Tanganyika in

jMwazye Mission.

KlFANVri.A. OI K MI NVAMI'ALA CLW KOV. HICYCl.E KOV ANI. OIllKR
(iKRMAN IIasT Ai-RICA.\ CARRIERS.

BISMARCKBURG AND LYANGALILE 13

Northern Rhodesia, and recognised Chitoshi as one of
their great chiefs. We found too that he was able freely
to converse with and understand us in Chiwemba, the
language of our Wawemba of Northern Rhodesia. This
was an interesting piece of evidence of some forgotten
migration of which we could learn no details, for, between
this and the other section there is now a considerable
wedge of entirely different tribes.

Between this and Mwazye Mission in the Lyangalile
hills which was our next objective, the country was dry,
badly watered, with a poor clay soil, and clothed wath
scanty timber and thorn bushes, but gradually improving
as we reached the higher altitudes in the immediate
neighbourhood of the French settlement ; but our other-
wise dull passage through this arid region was consider-
ably alleviated by the courtesy and attention paid to us
by the natives. At every village at or near which we
camped for the night, the headman lost no time not only
in pointing out what he considered to be the best spot for
pitching our tents, but also in summoning his people, who
willingly and cheerfully first cleared a convenient camping
ground with their hoes, and then fetched an ample supply
of water for ourselves, our staff, and our carriers. We
found this kind of reception to be the rule rather than the
exception all the way to Tabora, and though one might
expect it from one's own natives, it was a pleasant sur-
prise to find it extended to total strangers in a foreign
territory.

Among natives of so friendly a disposition we had but
little difficulty in finding our way when off the beaten
tracks ; guides from point to point were provided as soon
as asked for, and, although in the true African spirit they
occasionally attempted to take advantage of our ignorance
of local topography, they did their duty passing well
according to their lights.

On nearing Mwazye Mission, we thought it as well to
announce our visit by a messenger in advance, and when
within a few hours of that post we were agreeably surprised
to meet our messenger returning with a cordial note of

14 THROUGH THE HEART OF AFRICA

welcome from an old friend, Pere Guilleme, who had been
for many years associated with the Nyasa diocese, and had
been for some time holding the post of visitetir in the
Tanganyika District. We arrived at about ten o'clock on
Saturday, and rested the whole of the following day.

Our visit was one of considerable interest. This post
of the White Fathers of Algiers has, owing to its magni-
ficent position, been adopted as a sanatorium to which
members of other branches in need of rest are allowed to
repair, in order to recruit their health. And besides the
permanent staff there were one or two old African residents
from less healthy stations who were benefiting by their
sojourn here.

The invalids are by no means entirely free from the
discipline of their order, and daily routine imposed upon
them is quite in keeping with the spirit inspiring a com-
munity that has won such universal regard as much by the
simplicity and austerity of its members' lives, as by their
wise and patient handling of the difficult problem of
grafting Christianity upon heathendom. An hour or two
" temps libre " is permitted in the course of the day, and the
tone of the regulations suggests that it would be the height
of impropriety were any of the sufferers to succumb to
their ailments at any other time.

The soil is as fertile as the site is well chosen, and
we spent an enjoyable afternoon in an inspection of the
gardens, fruit plantations, and wheat fields on the slope
below the house and buildings, which are finely con-
structed of stone with tile roofs.

The natives, who are Wafipa, with a few Walungu
emigrants, are an unsophisticated lot, and were wildly
excited at our elementary gyrations on the bicycle, which
was a thing that they had never seen before. Their
curiosity at the arrival of strangers was amusing rather
than offensive, but grew a little embarrassing at times.
For an hour or two after our arrival, they were not content
with crowding round on the verandah three or four deep,
and peering into the rooms that any of us had entered, but
the opening of a door from within generally disclosed the

BISMARCKBURG AND LYANGALILE 15

presence of at least one piccanin whose eye had been
ghied to the key-hole.

The history of the Watwaki, the rulers of the Wafipa
people, as well as the customs and religious belief of a
neighbouring tribe called the Wakuluwe, presents points of
exceptional ethnographical interest, of which owing to the
kindness of Pere Wyckhaert, Superior of the Mission, we
were able to make a careful record, and publish with his
approval.

The Walipa tribe forms with its offshoots one of the
most numerous and important in this part of the continent,
and covers a large area to the south of Tabora and Ujiji,
down to the Saisi River (which, rising in British territory
near Abercorn, flows into the south-west of Lake Ikwa).
It is chiefly remarkable for the fact that the rulers are
entirely distinct in origin to the tribe whom they rule,
being of Galla (Gala) or Hamitic stock.

With regard to the inhabitants of Uganda, Sir Harry
Johnston says {The Uganda Protectorate, 1902, vol. ii.
p. 484) that it consists of five main stocks : (i) Pygmy —
prognathous type ; (2) Bantu ; (3) Nile Negro ; (4)
Masai ; (5) Hamite ; and of the last named he
says : —

" The fifth and last among these main stocks is the
Hamitic, which is negroid rather than negro. This is the
division to which the modern Somali and Gala belong, and
of which the basis of the population of ancient Egypt
consisted. These Hamites are represented by the remark-
able Bahima aristocracy of the western portions of the
Uganda Protectorate, and possibly by certain tribes at the
north end of Lake Rudolph." And again he writes of the
" light-coloured Gala race of almost Caucasian stock . , .
which in the modified and more negroid form . . . constitutes
the aristocracy to-day of all land between the Victoria Nile
in the north and Tanganyika in the south." And in the
same writer's Introduction to another book (Cunningham's
Uganda and its People, 1905, p. xi) he says of "the
Hamitic invader and civiliser of Negro Africa," " I have
also traced this element in lessening potency down the

i6 THROUGH THE HEART OF AFRICA

west coast of Tanganyika to regions north of the
Zambezi."

Sir Harry Johnston visited Rukwa himself in 1889,
and has informed us that he noticed this Hamitic family
of Watwaki at the time, but neither in his books nor in
any other pubHshed documents can we find any record of
the Hamite influence at the south-east of Tanganyika, so
that ethnographical students will feel grateful to Pere
Wyckhaert for allowing us to make use of his researches.

Sometime in the middle of the eighteenth century a
woman called Unda, accompanied by two daughters and
a small retinue, came from some country to the north
and stayed with the chief of Lulungu at the south end of
Lake Tanganyika, They were of nearly pure Hamitic
stock and very light coloured. The chief of Lufipa re-
sided near by at Milanzi, and was acquainted with an
ancient prophecy as to the advent of these women, in
consequence of which he informed his wife that if any
" white " women came to Milanzi they were on no account
to be allowed to sit in his royal chair ; as, were they to
do so, the sovereignty of the Wafipa would pass from him
to them. One day, when he was absent on a shooting
expedition, this Hamitic woman Unda arrived with her
daughters, and asked the Fipa chief's wife to get her his
royal chair. Either without thinking, or overawed by the
stronger character of the visitor, their hostess complied
with the request, and on the return of the chief from his
hunting Unda was discovered by him sitting on the royal
seat of state. Immediately he perceived this he abdicated,
and Unda became chief of the Wafipa. What the chief
said to his wife the legend does not record, but the Wafipa
appear to have accepted the change in rulers without
question.

Unda belonged to a tribe known as Watwaki, and she
found husbands for her daughters from a tribe called
Wanika, immigrants from the south reputed to have been
driven north by the Angoni. Before she died she gave an
order that the descendants of her daughters were never to
marry outside their own families, under penalty of death,

BISMARCKBURG AND LYANGALILE 17

and so for one hundred and fifty years or more the
descendants of these two Watwaki and their Wanika
husbands have intermarried — first cousins and even brothers
and sisters (the analogy to the marriages of the Pharaohs
is curious), and there has been no infusion of fresh blood
in the family from that day to this, though now that
almost all the descendants have embraced Christianity the
rule is being broken : and it is none too soon, for the
continual in-breeding has led to sterility ; though it does
not appear to have affected the mental powers of the
offspring.

At the time of her arrival in Lufipa Unda carried a
stone on her back as a woman carries a child, and this
stone was deeply reverenced by the VVafipa. It was
placed by Unda on the top of Milanzi mountain, the old
chief of Lufipa, who had abdicated, being appointed
guardian of the hill, a position which his descendants still
hold. The village at Milanzi, moreover, is never moved,
as are the surrounding villages, but is kept on the original
site as being the residence of the guardian of the sacred
mountain ; nor are any rectangular huts allowed to exist
within its confines.

The country of Lufipa thus acquired by Unda extends
from Karema on Lake Tanganyika in the north (about
7° S.) to the Saisi River in the south (between 8° and 9° S.),
and from Tanganyika in the west to the border of Rukwa
in the east. Some time after the advent of Unda the
Watwaki rulers divided into two factions. The split
occurred on the death of one of the immediate successors
of Msire, who was the first grandchild of Unda's to be
born in the country. This chief had two sisters, each of
whom was ambitious, and as each had a son the chief
foresaw trouble as to the succession, and consequently
decided to nominate one of the two as his successor.
Unknown to his nephews, he decided to test them, and on
different days sent each to herd his cattle, instructing them
to watch the animals carefully, as one of the cows was
about to calve. The first, known as Wakukatanga, idled
and took no trouble to tend the cattle, as his uncle ascer-

B

i8 THROUGH THE HEART OF AFRICA

tained by means of a spy, and on his return, when asked
to fetch a chair for the old chief, picked up the one nearest
to him, and passed it in a very casual manner. The second,
Wakuire, herded the animals very well, and towards
sunset drove them back, and reported to his uncle that the
cow had not calved. When asked to fetch a chair, he
proceeded to bring the royal seat, and in consequence
of his behaviour was nominated as the chief's successor, a
choice that was acquiesced in by the tribe.

Wakukatanga's mother, however, formed a faction
against Wakuire, and when he succeeded she captured the
capital Sumbwanga (in the country called Kanse), and
very nearly succeeded in capturing the young chief, who,
however, made good his escape to the hills of Lyangalile.
After a time his cousin, the usurper, Wakukatanga, heard
that he was there, and promptly sent emissaries to capture
or kill him ; but his friends placed Wakuire in an old hut
such as is used as a shelter for the dying, and placed in
it some decaying meat and skins, so that when his cousin's
messengers arrived they thought, from the smell, that he was
very ill and returned to Wakukatanga, informing him that
his cousin was dying. On their departure Wakuire went
to the chief of the Walungu and asked for help to regain
his capital, Sumbwanga, and his country. The necessary
assistance being given him, he defeated and drove out
Wakukatanga, who, in his turn, tied to Lyangalile, and there
founded a new branch of the family, whose descendants
rule in that part to-day, the present ruler being Sa (the
daughter of Pilula), who succeeded another Sa, who died
in 1910. But the senior branch at Sumbwanga is ruled
over by Kiatu, the son of Kapufi, a descendant of Wakuire.

There has been nearly incessant warfare between the
two branches, but whenever a male in either branch has
lacked a bride he has sought and obtained one from the
hostile branch rather than break the ordinance of Unda
as to marrying outside the family. On only three
occasions have the two branches united : — (i) During the
Angoni invasion between 1850—60. The Angoni are known
locally as the Wa Tuta, after their leader Tuta, and this

BISMARCKBURG AND LYANGALILE 19

invasion formed part of the great migration of this tribe,
who crossed the Zambezi in 1825 and settled under
Mombera and Mpeseni in Nyasaland and North-Eastern
Rhodesia, and also penetrated as far as the south-east of
the Victoria Nyanza. (ii.) During the raids and incursions
of the Wawemba, which took place up to about 1 890. And
(iii) during the war with Kimaraunga, a filibuster whose
meteoric career deserves more than a passing comment,
forming as it does a good example of the romance that
a strong man inevitably brings to the pages of history.

This remarkable man was the son of a slave who
had been a great elephant hunter, and, having acquired
considerable wealth from the sale of ivory, purchased his
freedom. On his death Kimaraunga and his brother
could not agree as to the disposition of their father's pro-
perty, so the brother went to a country called Luwende
or Lukawende, on the east of Tanganyika, between 5°
and 6° S., and Kimaraunga settled between Lake Ikwa
and Lyangalile. He managed to get together an army of
sorts, and captured a considerable tract of land, and then
made an alliance with the junior chief of the Wafipa — the
ruler in Lyangahle — and, together, they succeeded in
defeating the senior chief in Kanse. But shortly after
this Kimaraunga and his ally fell out, and the two Fipa
chiefs made an alliance and defeated him on the plains
of Rukwa.

The adventurer then fortified a stronghold on the
west of Lake Ikwa, in which no one dared to attack him,
and eventually captured the country of the Wakuluwe on
the lower Saisi River, and became a terror to the country-
side. But about 1900 a German officer cut short his
career by defeating him and making him prisoner. At
Sumbwanga, en route to Bismarckburg, he was guarded
in a hut, but succeeded in getting out, and, knocking down
the sentry, made off, but was shot by the officer.

In 1909 the representatives of both sections of the
Watwaki were converted to Christianity, and the feud that
began with Wakuire and Wakukatanga has come to an
end.

20 THROUGH THE HEART OF AFRICA

The Wakuluwe who have been referred to above as
being conquered by Kimaraunga possess remarkably ad-
vanced theistic beliefs which are well worth recording as
differing in man)' ways from the superstitions of the neigh-
bouring tribes. These Wakuluwe are a branch of the
Wachipeta who live on Lake Nyasa and moved to the
Saisi Valley in the footsteps of the Angoni between i860
and 1870.

They believe, firstly, in a god Ngidwe, a creator, and,
as is generally the case in this part of Africa, consider that,
having created the world, he had not bothered much
about it since. The belief is essentially a monotheistic
one, as the spirits that are referred to later are not con-
sidered divine in the same sense as Ngidwe. Secondly,
they believe in evil spirits, of which only one has a name,
Mwawa, of whose origin there are two accounts, some
holding that he was always an evil spirit ; whereas others
contend that Mivawa was originally a servant of Ngulwes
who got into trouble and ran away. Cf. Milton, " Satan,
thou wast not ever thus."

To this spirit is attributed the power to enter into
people's bodies and possess them, the persons so possessed
not being considered as evil in themselves, like waloshi, who
are in league with the evil spirits. Mwawa can take human
form, male and female, but generally assumes the shape
of a dog and runs about in the villages, stealing and biting,
and any one who beats him when in this shape is sure to
suffer severely for it. Another favourite form for him to
assume is that of a mouse, because in this shape he has
the easiest access to the huts. To him is attributed the
introduction of smallpox. Next in importance come the
Malesa (spirits of the dead), also called Fisingwa (shades),
who are really intermediaries and are not worshipped, but
are appealed to convey prayers to Ngidwe, who is never
prayed to directly. Offerings are made to them which
are placed in the usual little spirit huts. The Malesa are
considered responsible for death because when they are
lonely they come back to earth to seek a companion.

There is a drink called Lukansu — a narcotic of some

BISMARCKBURG AND LYANGALILE 21

kind — connected with the cult of Malesa, which is ad-
ministered by the witch doctor, and which is supposed to
give the drinker certain supernatural powers, such as in-
vulnerability, superhuman strength, and the power to know
and see things withheld from ordinary people.

There are two different accounts of the Creation : one
being that a man and a woman fell down from heaven to-
gether, being provided with an axe, a hoe, bellows, and a
few seeds for sowing, everything else having been created
previously. These two were provided with a soul (mwenzo)
which remains with them after death — i.e. when they
became fisingwa and when they revisit the earth (iikiwa) —
but to start with they were immortal. This original couple,
like Adam and Eve, were absolutely innocent, but know-
ledge did not come to them as the result of temptation
and fall.

Nec primo muliere concubare homo concupiebat, at
cum non corpori suo illam corpore simili uti videretur,
vulnere affligi illam putabat. Itaque vulnus medicare
conabatur dum Ngulwe tandem in terram latus errorem
demonstravit.

The other version is that the man and woman
descended from heaven without the implements and seeds.
They too lacked any sexual feeling, so Ngiilwe caused the
woman to bring forth a child, called Kanga Masala, from
her knee. This child had great wisdom and grew up
very quickly, and taught his parents how to make hoes
and other implements, and also, feeling in need of a
helpmeet, explained to them the relationship between
man and wife. By him, too, they were instructed in the
weaving of cloth wherewith to clothe themselves.

The " fall " is divided into two parts — woman's fall,
which brought work into the world, and the fall of man,
to which death is due. The first woman used to take a
single grain of millet (about the size of an ordinary pin-
head), and put it in a pot covered by a flat basket, and it
was turned into sufficient porridge for her needs and her
husband's. When her daughter grew up, the mother
told her to take a single grain, and, having ground it,

22 THROUGH THE HEART OF AFRICA

place it under the basket ; but the daughter, not knowing
that her mother had done this for a long time, thought
she must be mad to imagine that one grain could produce
the required quantity of food, so she set to work and
ground a whole basket of millet. The mother discovered
this and cursed her, saying that for the future they would
always be obliged to work hard and grind all their flour.
The fall of man came about in this way : — Ngulwe had
told the man that he was not to look for medicines among
plants, nor on the ground, nor anywhere else, but that if
any illness occurred he would cure it, and that man and his
offspring should never die. One day one of the children
was ill, but, remembering Ngulwe s instructions, the man
did not seek any medicine. The following day, however,
seeing that the child was not better, he went out into the
bush and secured some herbs, which he gave to the child
and cured it : but A^giilwe was angry, and told the man
that since he preferred to find remedies for himself he
could do so, but that his immunity from mortal diseases
would be removed and that he and his descendants
would die.

The classification of sins is rather an elaborate one,
and presents many unusual features, one of the most
noticeable being that they are divided into two classes
— Mpondo, crime, and Tustnza, petty offences or misde-
meanours. Neither kind had anything to do with the
soul, and man could be entirely purged of them by
confession or punishment, leaving the sinner none the
worse for what he had done.

The sins {inpondo) are three in number : —

(1) Sorcery, being in league with Mwawa.

(2) Procuring abortion,

(3) Adultery, and the desire for incest.
Homicide is not included, as it is not considered a

crime in the ordinary sense — that is to say, it is not a
matter for trial as for the administration of justice, but
simply an affair calling for revenge by the murdered person's
relatives. The misdemeanours (iusmsa) number five : —
(i) Breaking a vow.

BISMARCKBURG AND LYANGALILE

(2) Refusing to take part in public sacrifices, such as

take place at the sowing and reaping seasons.

(3) Theft of a tool or implement (but not other forms

of larceny).

(4) False testimony.

(5) Ingratitude to parents {nkoia).

For the tusinza there were no punishments, but for
the Dipoiido, the chief administers punishment which till
recently usually took the form of mutilation. Ngulwe,
too, frequently brought sickness upon the sinner and his
family.

A curious form of public confession is associated with
the mpondo. This .confession, which is a well-established
practice in this tribe, is known as Kupenmla mpondo, which
is not easy to translate as the word kupemida is not used
in any other connection, but it means the taking off of
the load or burden of the sins. The confession, which
is only practised by men, takes place in the presence of
the elders of the village, no women being permitted to
attend. The man about to confess stands at the doorway
of his hut, facing west, with a basket in his hands, in
which are placed some sand and a few pieces of dry grass.
Having confessed his mpondo aloud, he throws the grass
and sand into the air, and the wind carries away the
pieces of grass, while the sand falls back into the basket.
The man then cries out, "My mpondo are now gone like
the blades of grass, my tusinza are as numerous as the
grains of sand in this basket, let them go too," and,
suiting the action to the word, throws out the sand. He
then says, " I have no more mpondo, and Ngulwe will cure
my sickness" (or "will give me a prosperous journey ")
or whatever it was that led to the confession : for this
public confession is only used in cases of sickness —
presumed to be due to Ngidwes wrath at some sin — or
when starting on a journey, especially when about to cross
the Saisi River in full flood, at which time, near its mouth,
it is considered very dangerous.

Perhaps the most interesting part of the beliefs and
customs of these Wakuluwe is their idea of the residence

24 THROUGH THE HEART OF AFRICA

of departed spirits. As they do not consider the soul has
anything to do with sins, they do not divide this abode
into heaven and hell, but have only one residence for
all the souls of the departed. On the death of any one
it is considered that only half of the person dies ; for,
when the first man died his descendants buried him near
the village, and while they were discussing the advisability
of removing to a new site on account of his death, the
corpse rose and showed half of his body above the
ground and then disappeared again. This was taken as
a sign that the soul (mwenzo) remains with the shade
{kisinzwa). These fisinzwa are supposed to remain in a
village in the centre of the earth ; neither Ngulwe nor
Mwawa interferes with them, but they have the power to
approach Ngulwe and intercede with him. They live a
life described as being one continuous night, having
nothing to do, and suffer from ennui and nostalgia,
which is the reason why they come at times to carry off
a fresh companion from the earth. When some one dies,
the relatives ask the witch doctor which of the fisinzwa
has called him ; and, having told them, he informs them
that he must disinter the corpse and burn the remains
(for which he charges a heavy fee) and cast the ashes to
the winds.

The village inside the earth in which the fisinziva live
is said to be lighted by a mightier light than the earth,
and spirits wear shining clothes, and the huts are thatched
with shining grass — the word used to describe this being
kulelemela, which is the word employed for the bright
shining of the moon.

There exists in the tribe a regular sect or guild of
porcupine hunters {Waleli), who aver that they visit this
village of the fisinzwa when they enter the porcupine's
burrows, and that there is a mighty river in the near side
of it that no living person can cross without a charm, so
that they have to wait on the near side till a woman
comes down to draw water. They ask her for a charm,
which she throws into the water, turning it into sand.
The chief of the village is called Lungaba/wa, and is most

BISMARCKBURG AND LYANGALILE 25

hospitable to them, and never lets them go away empty-
handed — always giving them a porcupine.

The possible connection in these beliefs and customs
with parts of Genesis, the Decalogue, Hades, and the Styx
provides interesting speculation for the student of ethno-
graphy and folklore.

Ill

RUKWA

A steep descent — Attractive native dance — The horrors of the buffalo
bean — Meeting with the Mutwaki ruler Sa — Tribal characteristics
of the Wakwa — Simba Mission — Negro nuns — Curious customs and
beliefs of the Wakwa.

Armed with a passport in the shape of a cordial letter of
introduction from Pere Guilleme to any of his confreres
with whom we might come into contact, we left Mwazye
for Rukwa in the afternoon of the 15th August, escorted
by a cheery troupe of boys and girls, whose curiosity or
anxiety to see us safely on our way was not satisfied
until they had accompanied us for something over a mile.
Seven miles brought us to Mpwi, the village at which Sa
resides, standing on the brow of a curving rise towards
the eastern edge of a magnificent open plain, with a
glorious view of the Lyangalile hills breaking up the
horizon to the south-west. Sa herself was away, but her
representatives showed but little embarrassment at having
to do the honours in her absence ; and, with the shelter of
the chieftainess's verandah from the afternoon sun and a
clear open space near it for our tents, our camp left little
to be desired.

A little hampered by the conflicting statements of the
local natives as to which of the tortuous paths that lay
ahead of us was the most direct route by which to reach
Simba in the Rukwa Valley (to them a most uncomfort-
able objective, for which in common with our carriers they
seemed to have considerable difficulty in imagining any
sound reason), we reached the edge of the escarpment on
tlie following day, to find the view of valley below us
entirely and perhaps mercifully obscured by impene-
trable haze that for three parts of the year hangs like a

26

RUKWA

27

veil over the lake and its environs, and at this time was
intensified by the smoke of the bush fires that were filling
the air with hoarse crackling from the rocks close to our
feet to the parched plain 3000 feet below.

The descent occupied something over two hours ; the
gradient varied from one in four to something like two in
three ; and the path, which was generally over rock or loose
stones, was in places rendered uncomfortably slippery by
the dry grass that covered it like a mat.

The valley at the base consisted of parched and
blackened country, dotted with baobabs and thorn trees,
with patches of stiff yellow grass that looked as if it never
could have been green.

After tramping for another hour through the baking
heat, we were relieved to find ourselves at a dried up
river bed, choked with masses of reeds that indicated the
existence of moisture somewhere, on the opposite bank
of which was a fair-sized village, with a magnificent tree
at a corner of it, and under this we pitched our camp.

The native dances at the villages through which we
had been passing had been neither strikingly interesting
nor original ; but here, at Ilembwe's when the moon was
up, we enjoyed one of a quite unusual type. The first
part was in the usual style — a row of men and girls
opposite each other, accompanied by singing of a refrain
that sounded extraordinarily like "Come along and have
another one." Then a change took place, and a pro-
fessional dancer in costume gave a pas seid, accompanied
by drums and girls only, singing, the remarkable feature
being the fact that not only was the refrain an excep-
tionally musical one, but the drums, singing, and dancing
were all in strict time.

The country through which we tramped for the next
few days was more thickly covered with vegetation than
the foothills, but it was hot, dry and thorny. We were
fortunate, however, in having a well-marked track most of
the way, flanked by the hills towering away on our left,
which presented a glorious spectacle when lit up at night
with sparkling and sinuous terraces of flame from the

28

THROUGH THE HEART OF AFRICA

bush fires creeping along their slopes, but it was on the
whole an uninviting stretch.

One of these days will long be remembered. One
of us, when leaving the path for a minute, was unfortunate
enough to run into some buffalo bean. It is an innocent
enough looking plant, the buffalo bean — a humble creeper
with a russet-coloured woolly little pod, but of what this
woolly little pod is capable, only those who have felt
its torture can realise. The woolly appearance is due to
a coating of infinitesimal and almost imperceptible hairs.
At a touch they become detached, and, floating broad-
cast, alight or are wafted on to any object that is at
hand. Their presence is not immediately detected, as
the irritation caused is a little time in taking effect.
The victim in this case got pretty well sprinkled on
arms, legs, and neck, as well as on the inside of a light
overcoat.

The following is a description in his own words: "I
had walked several steps before I had a notion of what had
happened, and then the fun began. First a slight tickle
on an arm, then another at the back of the neck, then at
the back of a bare knee, then all over again da capo until
the spreading torture left me quite bewildered as to where
to scratch, but no longer in any doubt of the particular kind
of picnic I vi'as in for. From seven o'clock till evening,
with two short intervals during which it partially sub-
sided, the intense irritation continued, and though I tried
everything I could think of to alleviate it, nothing had
more than the slightest temporary effect.

" In despair at the ineffectiveness of my own remedies,
I asked one of my natives what they used themselves, and
he recommended hot ashes. Even blisters seemed pre-
ferable to what I was suffering, and I ordered him to rob
the nearest fire without dela}'. By this time the fiendish
things seems to have got through shirt, shorts, and every-
thing, and there were not many square inches of me into
which I did not have the stuff rubbed. Fortunately con-
sideration for his own fingers prevented the boy from apply-
ing the ashes too hot, but by the time he had finished I was

A MAGNIFICENT TREE

UNDER WHICH WE PITCHED OUR CAMP.

RUKWA

29

about as much like a dustman before his weekly bath as I
ever shall be.

The counter-irritant had a slightly distracting effect,
but even that was not permanent, and I had to realise
that the only thing to do was to sit as still as possible and
let the irritation wear off, which it did, leaving me an
exhausted and considerably wiser man between four and
five o'clock. Even then I had not heard the last of it.
Why or how the tiny hairs that cause the trouble disappear
at all, or whether they do disappear, or only lose their
poisonous powers, I do not know ; but I had an unpleasant
reminder of them a few days later when, on donning the
same garments again, after a thorough washing and beating,
I found that the fine hairs were still there, and the clothes
were not yet fit to wear."

The Wakwa, as the inhabitants of Rukwa are named,
amongst whom we were now travelling, differ in many
interesting features from the tribes that we had left behind
us on the Lyangalile highlands. One of the most notable
of these is their habit of eating slabs of a sort of un-
leavened bread, made of maize flour, in the place of the
porridge that is the customary diet of the majority of
grain-growing natives. They grow but little millet, and
that usually high up on the steep slopes of the hills,
a habit contracted in the times when concealment from
enemies was an important consideration and still main-
tained, possibly with a view to avoiding the poll tax.
They have also a peculiar taste for eating rats, of which
they cook large numbers — skin, hair and all, which causes
an unpleasant smell in the vicinity of the cooking place.
Their principal crops are maize, used for the brewing of
beer as well as the making of bread, bananas, tomatoes,
chillies, the castor-oil plant, and a good deal of cotton.
They weave a coarse, strong serviceable cloth in pieces
averaging 7 by 4|- feet on a primitive handloom.

The baskets in general use also present some novel
features. In addition to the almost universal " lupe," or
flat tray-like basket, they have a soft, plaited receptacle,
called a " chiwo," resembling a massive egg-cup in shape.

30 THROUGH THE HEART OF AFRICA

and which is probably of SwahiU origin, while they carry
pumpkins, gourds, and other bulky objects in a large
open wickerwork crate, suggesting the style of a parrot
cage. The flat loaves, while still intact, they ingeniously
use as trays and plates. The huts are mostly circular,
the walls built of reeds, which are placed vertically, being
neither plaited nor laid horizontally, as is usually the case
in reed-built dwellings. Owing to the absence of the
type of tree from which barkrope can be made, creepers
are employed for binding.

They are a well-clothed race, wearing the cloth of
their own manufacture, as well as imported blankets and
prints ; the women wear beads around their necks and
their foreheads and metal ornaments inserted at the side
of the nostril, while a few affect an ear ornament (worn
in a hole in the lobe) of a piece of wood a little larger
than a five shillings bit. Brass bracelets and anklets are
also common.

The males wear but few ornaments of any kind.
Bows and arrows are usually carried, but spears are
rarely seen. Small herds of cattle and large flocks of
sheep and goats are found at most villages of any size.
In place of the usual bark cylinder, crudely hollowed
wooden vessels are placed in the trees to act as beehives.

At Sakaliro's village, which we reached shortly after
the encounter with the buffalo bean, we had the pleasure
of meeting Sa, whom we had missed at her village, and
who was returning with a large retinue from a visit to her
relatives in Rukwa. Intelligent-looking, with the Hamitic
strain plainly visible at close quarters in comparison with
the frankly negro type of her subjects, her dignity was
unmistakable, but the ease and composure of her bearing
were sadly marred by the ill-fitting cheap cotton print
dress, the calico-covered straw sombrero, and the am-
munition boots which she apparently had learnt to con-
sider inseparable from her dual role of queen and
convert.

News of our approach had already reached her, and
we were expected visitors. Stools for herself and for us

RUKWA 31

were promptly ordered and produced, and for several
minutes we sat in a little circle in the middle of the
village and exchanged polite greetings and inquiries in Ki-
Swahili. The conversation was not animated, for she
was obviously exceedingly self-conscious and shy, and the
suggestion that she and her suite should sit for their
photographs was welcomed as a relief.

Presents were exchanged before we parted, and after
the purchase of a piece of native cloth from her, which
showed that her friendly relations in no way interfered
with her instincts for driving a hard bargain, we pro-
ceeded on our way accompanied by one of her henchmen,
who was to return, if we had any luck in shooting later
in the day, with some meat for his mistress.

At our camp that evening, near which we did succeed
in securing a couple of reed buck, we learnt that Sa had
thoughtfully sent messengers to the neighbouring villages
with orders to bring in supplies of food and beer for
ourselves and our carriers. In obedience to these orders
the people came in, but almost empty-handed: food, they
protested, was very scarce, and they naively confessed that
they themselves had drunk all the beer there was. We
found the demeanour of some of them quite convincing,
particularly in the case of one merry crowd that volun-
teered to accompany us all the way to the Victoria
Nyanza, but on the following day, having either forgotten
their offer or thought better of it, were nowhere to be
found.

On the 19th of .August we reached Simba Mission, at
the north-west corner of Lake Ikwa, and received a
hearty welcome from the Superior, Pere Avon, and his
colleagues. This post of the French Fathers is chiefly
remarkable for the community of black nuns who live
there ; and who are, we believe, the only native women in
this part of Africa who have ever taken the veil. The fact
that they have done so is largely due to the initiative of
one of the Watwaki family called, like the founder of
the dynasty, Unda, who, after receiving an education at
Karema Mission — to the south of Ujiji on Tanganyika —

32 THROUGH THE HEART OF AFRICA

volunteered to found the sisterhood, and persuaded three
Bantu friends to join her. Of these, two are Wenema-
lungu from the west of the lake, and the third is the daughter
of a chief of the Bende tribe on the eastern shore. We
were much impressed by the demeanour of this remark-
able sisterhood, the cleanliness of their house, and every-
thing belonging to them. The Mutwaki (now known as
Soeur Agnes) had plenty of natural grace, and the dignity
that seems part of the inheritance of this Gala stock ;
the other three were rather shy in our presence, but are,
we gathered, devout members of the Church, and, like their
leader, make themselves very useful in attending to the
sick women and children in the neighbourhood, besides,
doing the laundry work for the Mission. Nor are they
without some considerable culinary skill, as we discovered
from a sweet and a cake made especially for our benefit.

A fine church which was in the course of construction
at the time of our visit pleased us particularly by its
simple architectural beauty and its symmetry. Pillars
were being purposely omitted from the scheme, as the
congregation were so fond of hiding behind them ! Life
at Simba must be very trying ; the climate is hot and
stifling, and hardly any one ever passes the Mission, which
lies a little to the south of the main road from Dar-es-
Salam and Kilimatindi to Bismarckburg. We were
very much disappointed to find that the whole northern
half of the lake was dry, and that it would mean a journey
of five days in a southerly direction to reach open water.
As this would mean a delay of ten or eleven days, we were
obliged to forego it. We managed, however, to collect
from the tributaries that are absorbed in the sandy bed
which is all that remains of the north end of the lake,
a few specimens of fish for the British Museum, one of
which proved later to be a new species.

Ikwa is one of those peculiar lakes that has no outlet,
so that a study of its fish should prove most interesting.
The amount of water in it varies considerably. Up to
1880 it had been generally fairly full, but in that year
the northern half dried up owing — so the natives say —

RUKWA

33

to the death of a German explorer, who was interred close
by and subsequently drank the waters to quench his thirst.
The lake filled up again between 1900 and 1902, but
since then has been getting emptier year by year. At the
end of the dry season a great wind known as Kikulwe
springs up, and raises the sand and potash from the
dry bed and lake shore to such an extent that the
sun is totally obscured and the surrounding country
covered with a heavy deposit for some miles round.
Mirages are common on and near the lake, and are called
ajnangisisi by the natives.

Thanks once more to the courtesy of one of our
hosts (Pere Teurlings), who had spent many years among
them, we were able to collect much interesting information
about the customs and religious beliefs of the Wakwa.

There are very few customs observed at the birth of
a child. When the woman is enceinte she confesses if
she has been unfaithful to her husband so as to avoid the
risk of dying in childbirth, which is supposed to result if
the confession is not made. (This and many other in-
cidents closely resemble those in vogue among many of
the Central African tribes.) When the child is born a
present is made to the local midwives by the parents, of
a ram in the case of a son, and a ewe in the case of a
daughter. The father is not allowed to see the child till
an interval of three days has elapsed. In the case of
twins one was killed, and five sheep (or goats — or occa-
sionally hoes or other tools) given to the midwives. A
somewhat similar custom exists among the neighbouring
Wafipa, where at the birth of twins ten sheep are pre-
sented by the parents to the paramount chief. After the
midwives have received their sheep, they and their col-
leagues from the neighbouring villages collect, and go to
the Chief's village to announce the birth of the twins,
and then separate to spread the news throughout the
surrounding villages. The parents may neither drink nor
tak ■ snuff on the day of the birth, nor may they eat,
except a small bowl of porridge mixed with pieces of a
tree called umnombo. Should either refuse to partake of

c

34 THROUGH THE HEART OF AFRICA

this, his (or her) hands are attacked by a violent trembling
which lasts till death.

Instead of the choice of wives resting with the Chief
or with the parents, the Wakwa boys choose their own,
generally starting to choose at about the age of eight.
When a youth has finally made up his mind, or thinks he
has, he carries a load of firewood to the girl's parents' hut,
and if they approve of him they give him some porridge.
Having thus committed himself, he goes next to his own
father to ask him to provide sufficient of the world's goods
to enable him to set up an establishment for himself. The
father then, provided that he agrees with his son's choice,
goes to the girl's parents, taking a hoe {nkomo luyi) to the
girl ; and asks for her on his son's behalf. Consent on
the part of the girl is shown by her keeping silent, but
refusal by her saying " No " and leaving the house. Once
the young couple are engaged, which is what these pre-
liminaries amount to, they are not allowed to look at each
other during the daytime, nor may the youth look at his
future parents-in-law till the marriage has been consum-
mated and a child born. The girl may look at her
parents-in-law after the marriage ceremony. During the
''engagement" each must scrupulously avoid meeting the
other's parents, and must turn in another direction if there
is any chance of a meeting (the fixed times at which they
meet for certain parts of the ceremony are, of course,
excepted). Sexual intercourse between the young people
prior to the giving of the first present is not considered
wrong, but after that it is strictly forbidden till the
marriage has taken place ; or, strictly speaking, as will be
seen, till the fifth day after the marriage.

After the betrothal comes the regular present-giving,
which varies from three to fifteen sheep (five being a
common number) — the local value of a sheep being about
Rs. 2. On the eve of the wedding day the young man
takes a fowl to the girl's hut, and her parents bring her in
crying : a dance then follows, after which the man leaves,
returning at first cock-crow on the following morning
with his companions, and taking with him some earth and
water, with the mud made of which the girl covers his

"A FINE CHURCH WAS IN THE COURSE OF CONSTRUCTION."

RUKWA

35

neck and chest, and he does the same to her. Then they
cover each other's bodies all over with the mud. Porridge
and meat are then fetched, and he puts some in his
fiancee's mouth, and her companions put some in his.
About noon they wash. A woman then takes a young
child {kiswdi) to the bridegroom's hut, and he gives her
five fowls ; after which she sits on a stool between his
parents' hut and that of the bride's parents. This woman
proceeds to mark out the distance between the huts by
hoe-lengths, and if she stops at every hoe-length he
presents a fowl at each halt, and if it is every ten hoe-
lengths a sheep. All these gifts placed upon the ground
go to the bridesmaids. The bride also has a kisindi, and
both are oiled all over. After this present-giving the
bride and bridegroom are oiled, and the bridegroom dons
a cloth, a comb in his hair, a belt of beads, and bells on
his ankles and on his left side. The bride wears a cloth,
beads on her neck and body, and also as a belt, with shells
all over her head ; and on her forehead paints usiili (a
decoction of pungent leaves powdered). The bride-
groom's kisindi goes to the bride, and gets a little of the
usuli on his finger and brings it to the bridegroom to
smell to see if it is good. The man then takes a little
thatch from the roof of his father-in-law's hut, and stands
with a miniature bow and arrow on his left hand and a
stick in his right hand, and looks at the sun for half-an-
hour. While he is thus engaged, the village midwives gather
round and insult him. The father-in-law then emerges
from his hut, and puts an arrow in the bridegroom's hair ;
this is followed by the bride's appearance, and her husband
greets her by putting a wooden " tooth hush " in her mouth
and by slapping her on her head — and sometimes on the
body as well ; the bride's father and mother then address
the people ; the bridegroom takes another handful of
thatch from his father-in-law's roof, and removes the arrow
from his hair, which act completes the marriage.

Beer-drinking follows, and the bridegroom goes to his
parents' hut, and gives the arrow to his own father. Then
his relatives go to fetch the bride, who has a fowl given to
her on leaving her parents' hut, and beads and other

36 THROUGH THE HEART OF AFRICA

presents at every landmark or halting place en route (i.e.
on crossing a stream, or climbing a hill), and further
presents on entering the bridegroom's hut, on receiving
porridge, on undressing, and on lying down. All the
bridesmaids and the bridegroom's young friends sleep in
the hut with the couple that night.

The next day the bride shows the presents to her
parents, and then returns to her husband, keeping her
head down and her eyes fixed on the ground for three
days so as to see no one. On the fourth day they return
to their own parents' huts, and on the fifth day the
bridegroom fetches firewood for his parents-in-law and
they give him porridge just as was done at his first pro-
posal. He then returns to his own hut, followed by his
wife carrying porridge and meat. That night they co-
habit, and live together thenceforward as man and wife.

The customs of the Wakwa at death and burial present
one or two novel features, though many points of resem-
blance to those of other tribes will be apparent to any
student of comparative ethnography. In the event of
sickness, the relatives of the invalid go to the doctor to
discover who is responsible for the illness. One of the
methods of divination employed by the doctor is to place
a string between two upright sticks and affix to it a small
pot which he manipulates while asking the relatives leading
questions with a view to finding out from them on whom
this suspicion rests. Having ascertained this, he accuses
the person indicated, and for so doing receives a present
of one white fowl. The relatives then request the accused
to make some payment, and, if he complies and the sick
person recovers, there is an end of the matter.

When a person dies the relatives begin by crying and
rolling on the ground, after which they bind strips of
bark round their foreheads and chests. The deceased's
friends (not his relatives) dig the grave, and the corpse is
buried in a sitting position, the calves of the legs tied back
to the thighs, and the forearm to the shoulder. On the
death of a woman who has not given birth to a child, a
burning stick is placed by her side. "This," they say,
" shall be as a child to you." Lepers are not buried, but

RUKWA

37

their bodies are thrown into the bush. At the burial all
the people of the same totem as the deceased take part.
After the digging of the grave and the tying up of the
corpse, some relatives (of the same sex as the deceased)
enter the grave, and standing upon it receive the corpse,
which is handed to them, and then rake in the first earth
with their elbows. They then emerge from the grave, and
the rest of the earth is thrown in with hands and hoes ;
every person present must throw in at least one handful
as a farewell to the deceased. Finally, a stick is placed
at each end of the grave to mark the place. The mourners
then return to the village and howl for a spell, while they
make a fire, spatchcock a fowl, and purify themselves.
The fowl is eaten with porridge. An animal (ox, sheep,
or goat) is killed, and all who were present at the funeral
receive meat and porridge, the men receiving the hind
quarters and head, and the women the fore quarters and
back: the following day is a day of rest known as the
wanda wa insio, on which no work is supposed to be done ;
and any work done on this day is supposed to be un-
profitable.

If the relatives of the deceased had, prior to his death,
discovered the individual "responsible for" his illness, he
is compelled to undergo a inwavi test (ordeal by poison).
If the discovery has not been already made, the doctor
is consulted after the funeral with the object of ascer-
taining whether death was due to witchcraft or to a
summons by the spirit of some deceased relative {vide infra
in notes on disinterment). On the third day following
the funeral the midwives of the village perform within
a hut a dance, concerning which nothing is known except
that the performers are in a state of complete nudity,
even the mwele being removed, and on the fourth day
the relatives wash themselves, sweep out the deceased's
hut and throw the dust collected into the river and
anoint themselves with oil, which completes the obsequies.

Where the death has been attributed to a departed
spirit, the doctor has to divine which particular spirit
it is that has called for a companion, which he does
by taking a piece of kilolo, the root of a plant called

38 THROUGH THE HEART OF AFRICA

milala and the leaves of another plant called kavumbe,
chews and spits them out into the palm of his hand,
and rolls them thereon with a small stick. Then having
already taken the precaution of ascertaining which of
the deceased's ancestors' spirits is suspected, he names
him as having been selected by his magic. (Another
method of " divination " sometimes employed is by the
applicant holding the top and the doctor the base of
an antelope's horn, which is manipulated while the doctor
" divines " the responsible spirit.) For the service of
divination the doctor demands but a small fee ; but
having divined the shade that has caused the trouble,
he orders the disinterment and burning of the remains.
For this a very high fee is exacted, and no one but
the doctor himself is qualified to undertake it. All the
relatives of the deceased accompany the doctor to the
grave of the person to be exhumed. The doctor
sprinkles the grave and its immediate neighbourhood
with medicines, and the relatives proceed to disinter the
remains. Any bones found are removed and sprinkled
with medicines, and then placed on a rude plank. A
fire is then kindled inside the grave to consume any
remains that may have escaped the notice of the diggers.
The bones that have been placed on the plank are taken
away and burnt near a river, into which the ashes are
then thrown. Ablutions complete the ceremony.

A few notes on the succession laws will complete the
description of Wakwa customs. On the death of a
married man the eldest surviving brother succeeds to all
his wives and divides his other property with the remain-
ing relatives. On the death of a married woman her
relatives take possession of her property, but provide the
widower with a new wife. On the death of a male, even
if his successor {e.g. a younger brother or nephew)
happen to be immature, he is compelled at least once to
cohabit with the wife or wives to whom he succeeds
despite any discrepancy in age. Should he fail to fulfil
this duty any one else is then at liberty to marry the
woman or women on the payment of a price to the youth
who has failed to make good his inheritance. After the

RUKWA

39

settlement of the deceased's affairs, the relations shave
their heads and indulge in a carouse.

The religious beliefs and superstitions of the Wakwa are
particularly interesting when regarded in conjunction with
those of the VVakuluwe related in the preceding chapter,
for the Wakuluwe and Wakwa are neighbours whose terri-
tory is contiguous ; but whereas the former have a distinct
religious code based on a rather elaborate theistic belief,,
the latter are frankly pagan — indeed far more so than any
of the neighbouring tribes with which we are acquainted.

Beyond a belief in a Creator (Lesa), who created the
world and did nothing else (the common idea in this part
of Africa),^ no reference is made in their superstitions to
any god, but their principal object of worship is the Sun
{Ndaka), which they consider to be the giver and preserver
of life. They believe that the sun had at one time a
battle with the moon, in which the latter was badly
worsted, the signs of the conflict being still visible upon its
face. In consequence of this defeat the moon is not
worshipped. The worship of the sun is of a simple
nature, being conducted in private inside the worshipper's
hut, and has no external ceremony whatever. They
merely pray to it for life and health.

Next in importance comes the worship of sundry
sacred places — groves, rocks, or trees, in which snakes
(especially pythons) are found ; and the following is the
list of the principal places : —

Name of Place. Natne of Pries f.

Ushyela. Kipoma.
Namatata (near Nkoma, where there are Koswe of Nkoma.

many snakes).

Fwaila (a big tree near Lake Ikwa). Kipoma.

Chandikala (another tree). „

Namwela (a small hill near Simba). Wakulimalungu.

Ngola (a hill at Ntetezi). Kipoma.

Inkinga (a big stone near Yunga). „

Nsovwe (a rock at the top of the hills

west of Mayengi). ?

Inkulu (a big tree). ?

Cf. Ennius : — " Ego deum genus esse semper dixi, et dicam coelitum ;
Sed cos non curare opinor,
Quid agat humanum genus."

40 THROUGH THE HEART OF AFRICA

The control of these sacred places and objects is
entirely in the hands of the priests {kapepd), and none
but the recognised priest can offer sacrifices or conduct
worship at any of them ; and they have the power to
order attendance for worship at any of them at any time
they please, which order must be obeyed by all. More-
over, every one, even the chief, has to make a present of
beer to the priest before attending. When a priest dies
he is succeeded by his son, who has been instructed in
the mysteries during the lifetime of his father.

When proceeding to worship, the priest attires himself
in a cotton cloth of native manufacture, encircles his arms
with large white beads and his neck with small blue ones.
He takes with him the chief's sceptre {iluazi), and the
small bow used in the marriage ceremony {amakolwe), and
is accompanied by two small girls and a small boy. One
of the girls carries his chair {chamapepo\ the other a basket
of flour {mpanda ya niulimo), while the boy carries a small
drum (mlumba), and the whole population of the village
follows a little distance behind. Arrived at the sacred
place, the priest announces in a loud voice that the
ceremony is beginning (nkuuma akito), and spills some beer
and flour upon the ground. He then drinks some beer
from the pot, and hands some round to the others in a
calabash. All the people chant, striking the spears which
they hold in their left hands with a small stick. The
priest then proceeds to the sacrifice, which takes the form
of either a black sheep or a white cock, and sprinkles the
blood upon the ground. After this they all return to the
village, and the people salute the priest by lying down and
clapping their hands crying, out " Mouse mukidu lata."

The only form of direct worship of snakes, other than
that of the rocks and trees where they live, is to carry
porridge and place it near their holes for them to eat.
This is frequently done.

The spirits of ancestors {azintu) are also worshipped
inside the huts, near the door, at the side of which is built
an altar with a hole in it {kiloa). After a brewing of
beer, a small quantity is always left on this altar for one

RUKWA

41

night. When about to proceed on a hunting or fishing
expedition, birds' feathers are placed upon the altar, and in
the event of the expedition proving unsuccessful the altar
is broken to pieces. Beyond this, and the allocation of
responsibility in cases of death and sickness, already
referred to, the people appear to pay no attention to the
azinni.

The last " deity " in the mythology of the Wakwa
is the Lake god, Mwena (a word also used by them for
waterspout and for smallpox), who is feared and wor-
shipped as causing death by his servants the crocodiles
{itg'ivena).

IV

RUKWA TO TABORA

Game on the Kavu River — A long stalk — Euphorbia-stockaded villages
— Unintentional change of route — Reception by Muchereka, Mu-
lungwa chief — And by Kasamia — " Tembo " architecture — Preval-
ence of tsetse fly — Sport on the Ugalla River — Kalula, chief of the
Wagunda — Belt of good timber, with sawpits — Arrival at Tabora.

The vast open plains into which the Rukwa Valley
broadens out to the north along the Kavu River enjoy
local reputation as being the feeding grounds of huge
herds of game, and we were glad to reach a locality where
there was a good chance of sport. Our carriers up to
this point had had but little meat, and we ourselves were
wondering how soon we should have an opportunity of
justifying the expenditure of Rs.200 per licence for
shooting ordinary game in German East Africa. We had
not, as a matter of fact, been encouraged to take out a
game licence by the official at Bismarckburg ; he assured
us that it was both cheaper and easier to purchase sheep or
goats when we were in need of food.

The second day after leaving Simba we reached a
village on the edge of the plains, and camped for the
night, and on the following morning we rose at half-past
four, an hour earlier than usual in this section of our
journey, so as to be certain of finding some game before
the heat of the day. We had been further encouraged to
this unusual energy by the urgent advice of the local
natives to start after dawn, as there were always lions
about at an earlier hour. They admitted on inquiry that
the lions so far had proved quite innocent of any hostile
intentions towards man, and, as a matter of fact, we saw
none at all. It was just light when, on rounding a bit of
cover, we sighted our first beast — a topi bull standing in

42

RUKWA TO TABORA

43

the open at about two hundred yards. There was no time
for very careful aim, as he had already seen us ; and the
first shot, which was a miss, sent him away at a gallop to
join a group that we then spied standing about half-a-mile
away. The half-burned cane grass was long enough to
hide them at times, and we were unable to make out their
numbers, but there were then no others in sight, so we de-
cided to try a stalk. The wind, as we stood, was in our
favour, but there was no cover within considerable distance
on either side between us and our quarry, and it was there-
fore necessary to make a long detour to the east in order to
take advantage of the shelter of a patch of an unburnt
grass that lay about a mile to our right front. It was the
most tiring kind of walking, the surface of these plains
being closely studded with tough little clumps of grass
roots rising several inches above the level, against which
one is constantly and painfully stubbing the toes or twist-
ing the ankles ; the sun was rapidly gaining power, and
there was not a square yard of shade for miles. On our
getting within a few hundred yards of the grass patch, the
topi, which had, after all, been watching our movements,
apparently realised that it was time to be on the move,
and put another half-mile between us.

This put us on our mettle, and spying a thicker island
of grass which offered nearly as much advantage as the
first, we set ourselves to reach it, by first walking some
distance at an angle in order to have it between us for
the rest of the stalk. On reaching it, we found that the
herd, still on the alert, had spread out, and that a sentinel
in advance of the rest had spied us round the corner.
New tactics suggested themselves — we divided, the one,
deliberately keeping in sight, moved off to the left, with
the object of holding their attention while the other slowly
and painfully forced his way through the brake, making as
little noise as possible and hoping to find the herd within
range on the other side.

Once more disappointment was in store. They had
moved on again. Our strategy, however, was succeeding.
They had not gone far, and as their attention was riveted

44 THROUGH THE HEART OF AFRICA

on the decoy still slowly tramping away in the opposite
direction, and there was a small clump of grass within
some eighty yards of them, it seemed as though after all
our strenuous efforts would not be unrewarded. The
grass clump was not more than four feet at its highest, and
only the bottom half was thick enough to act as a screen,
so there was nothing for it but a crawl. It lasted perhaps
120 yards, but with all sorts of uncomfortable things
scratching one's bare knees and elbows, the burnt grass
making a regular sweep of the crawler, and the efforts of
carrying an lb. rifle so as to guard against the muzzle
being choked with foreign objects, it seemed like half a
mile. It was therefore no small relief to find, on reaching
and cautiously peering over the slender screen, that the
game had remained in the same spot, and that their atten-
tion was still engaged elsewhere. After a short pause to
recover the breath, an unusually persistent stalk ended
with a very fair bull and an old cow topi lying on the
ground, victims to a right and left at about eighty yards.
We then turned back towards Kalumbalesa's village at the
edge of the plain, where we had directed our carriers to
await us. Hundreds of bohor reedbuck were popping
up in all directions, and we accounted for half a dozen on
our way ; and, arriving at the village at about noon, we
pitched our camp.

There was a generous supply of beer in the village, of
which we purchased about a gallon, and drank nearly all
of it. This beverage forms an important item in the native
dietary. It is made by pouring boiling water upon crushed
and partly fermented grain, and forms a thick fluid, exactly
like thin bran mash ; the natives like it fairly thick, but if
diluted and strained to the consistency of thin cream it
provides a refreshing and sustaining drink, containing about
as much alcohol as light dinner ale. When there is beer
there is generally dancing, and in the evening we made two
efforts to obtain a flash-light photograph of the village en
fete; the effect upon the revellers was so amusing as to
justify the experiment, but the photographs unfortunately
both turned out to be failures.

RUKWA TO TABORA

45

The next day we decided to stay at the same spot, and,
trying the plain a Uttle farther north, devoted most of the
day to shooting. One large herd of topi that we came
upon in the shade of a belt of timber must have numbered
close on four hundred, whilst a second seen in the evening
was about half the size. They were wary, however, but we
succeeded in securing a few heads well up to the average,
and a welcome supply of meat for the carriers and our
hosts.

The vagaries of an old rifle prolonged the outing for
one of us to a tiring day of hours. First the pull of the
trigger, for some unaccountable reason, suddenly increased
to 23 pounds (and the gut binding round the broken
stock made it impracticable to look inside) ; then the am-
munition, of which he was carrying a very small supply,
gave out : he had a fine bull topi lying wounded close by,
the natives had not got a spear between them, his spare
gun was left behind, and the only thing to do was to send
back to camp for another weapon. The first man sent for
it lost his way, and arrived at the camp about sundown ;
and a second, with a better bump of locality, got back to
the scene with another battery at about 3.30, and camp
was not reached till two hours later.

It was in this neighbourhood that we began to notice
the prevalence of the euphorbia-fenced village. The huts
in many cases had been built and rebuilt over and over
again within the slowly growing rising stockade that in the
days of mutual hostility with their neighbours had been
found, by reason partly of its denseness and partly of the
poisonous properties of its juice, to be so effective a barrier
against the intrusion of enemies.

Some of these had grown to such a height and
such a thickness that it was quite impossible, except
at very close quarters, to detect the presence of the huts
within.

In the construction of the huts themselves there was
a feature that was new to us ; the walls, instead of being
composed of reeds, bamboo, or, commonest of all, slender
poles, were constructed from large thornwood, split by

46 THROUGH THE HEART OF AFRICA

reason of its greater size into rough lathes. This was, of
course, due to the absence of small straight timber.

It had been our intention to travel via the French
Fathers' Mission at Mpimbwe, but soon after leaving our
hunting grounds, our carriers, for some reason best known
to themselves, took the right hand of two tracks (leading
from our camp at a village called Pantula), which happened
to be the wrong one. Near the end of this long day's
march, of which 17 miles was through a waterless tract
sparsely covered with thorn trees, borassus palms, and
baobabs, we discovered that we had gone too far to the
east to make it worth while to carry out our original
purpose. We decided, therefore, to follow the track that
had been chosen for us, consoled by the reflection that it
was perhaps a slightly shorter route to Tabora, and led
through a less frequented part of the country.

We had now left the Wakwa behind us, and entered
a section of the country called Lungwa (also the name of
a river running through it), the natives of which call
themselves Alungwa. The first of their villages at which
we camped was that of one of the principal " Sultans,"
as they are locally called, a well-preserved, middle-aged
woman named Muchereka — with quite as good idea of
her position as Sa. She, however, was not embarrassed
by the incongruous trappings of civilisation, nor by the
self-consciousness of recent accession and youth, and
her reception of us was an amusing mixture of dignity,
familiarity, and respect. She got in a handshake, when
we were off our guard, provided us with stools until our
chairs arrived, invited us to pitch our tents close to her
own compound, which was enclosed in a 12-foot reed
fence, and gave us the use of a comfortable and well-
built itsaka, or half-open shelter, just outside it.

We tried the experiment of inviting her to have a cup
of tea with us when she came round to pay a call in the
afternoon. She accepted with alacrity ; and, sitting on
her chair, which she had brought with her, her husband
and court squatting on the ground at her side, showed
by her enjoyment of two cups sweetened with plenty of

RUKWA TO TABORA

47

sugar, that it was not an unfamiliar beverage. The tea
she consumed entirely herself, but a large slice of cake
was discreetly nibbled, and then passed on to her husband
and the rest of her household to finish. She had already
presented us with a pot of beer, of which we found
quantities in process of brewing on our arrival, and later
twice repeated the gift, invariably tasting it herself before it
was handed to us. It was a little thin at first, but evidently
grew mellow within the next few hours, and the penetrat-
ing harangue to which she treated her husband shortly
after the middle of the following night testified to its
potency when taken in sufficiently generous doses. Our
second day's halt was mainly with the object of trying to
shoot some game, in which our hostess assured us the
neighbourhood abounded, but of which it was a long
time since she had had a taste.

The evening of the first day was unsuccessful, but the
following morning spent in the finely timbered forest
belt, spreading for a few miles to the south of the village,
resulted in a bag of two mpala and two warthog, one of
each of which formed a welcome addition to her larder
and ours.

Our next definite objective was the Ugalla River, which
forms the administrative boundary between the Ujiji and
Tabora districts, and on which we had heard that there
were great quantities and several varieties of game. The
rocks were changing from granite to conglomerate, and
part of our route was over uncomfortably steep and stony
hills, through a country so badly watered that even in
August the sole supply was from isolated and inadequate
holes, sometimes covered with a screen of palm leaves for
protection from sun and dust, dug in the beds of dried-up
rivulets, which later in the year must with difficulty have
afforded a sufficiency even for the barest needs of the
population. At the village of a delightful old chief called
Kasamia, whose sole clothing consisted of a scanty loin
cloth, a bunch of medicine charms round his neck and
two solitary fangs in a mobile and humorous mouth, and
whose cordial welcome of us and despotic handling of his

48 THROUGH THE HEART OF AFRICA

people were particularly refreshing, we noticed the first
example of the change from the ordinary circular to the
" tembo " architecture in the native huts. The latter,
which is apparently due to Arab influence, was particularly
well shown in a village at which we camped the following
day, and of w^hich we made a careful plan. The principal
features are the flat and almost horizontal roofs, plastered
with a thick coating of mud, on which there is generally
a large crop of grass, the long narrow compartments into
which the huts are divided and the formation by the
walls of the huts themselves, of a self-contained and com-
pletely closed in fortress. Some of the carved wooden
doors, evidently of considerable age, as well as the
markedly foreign type of utensils, e.g. bellows, ladles, and
trays, of which we secured some photographs, also betrayed
the influence of Arab settlement or incursions, while a
peculiar and probably purely native use of the bark of
large trees was seen in the construction of pigeon cotes,
corn bins, and even the roofs of open shelters. From
Kasamia's, where there were cattle apparently thriving in
spite of it, tsetse fly abounded along the whole route, and
in some spots were so persistent in their attacks as to be
almost unbearable. Among the old spoor of various kinds
of game, that of giraffe was far the most plentiful, the
track itself and the bush at the side of it being almost
continuously dented with it. Little of it, however, was
at all fresh, most of it apparently dating from the previous
rains. One herd of elephant had crossed our track some
two days before ; we bagged a jackal and hartebeeste (the
jackal a galloping shot with a Greener .310), but saw little
other game until within a few miles of the Ugalla River.

Komekeshya's small village, w^here we camped on the
last day of August, was notable as enclosing within its
compound the two largest mitaiva or bark-cloth trees we
had ever seen. Round the thinnest part of their trunks
{i.e. between the swelling of the roots below and the
thickening as they branched above) they measured respec-
tively 8 feet 8 inches and 12 feet 10 inches in circumfer-
ence, whereas these trees are usually regularly stripped of

RUKWA TO TABORA

49

their bark for making cloth, these, besides being evidently
of great age, had never been mutilated in any way. It
was while resting in the shade of one of the trees that
the headman produced a rather rare and remarkable pet
in the shape of a scaly manis, which he sold to us for one
rupee. Though the natives were mortally afraid of it and
declared that it was a vicious biter, we soon found that it
was perfectly harmless, quiet, and inclined to be tame. We
kept it for three or four days, during which we amused
ourselves in the evening by studying its quaint gait and
quainter physique as it ambled leisurely about our camp
looking for ants and other insects ; but one morning we
woke up to find to our intense annoyance that, by the
carelessness of the boy responsible for its security, the
beast had got out of its box and wandered away into the
bush, never to be seen again.

On arriving at another village at which we had thought
of camping, we were advised by the inhabitants to go a
stage farther, because there were two cases of small-
pox amongst them.

As they were crowding round us themselves and were
obviously taking no sort of precautions to prevent the
spread of the contagion, we at first felt a trifle uneasy, but
when they assured us that they (a couple of dozen who
were standing round) had all had it, and we noticed that
not a single one had any traces of the disease, we came
to the conclusion that it must have been chicken-pox or
some other minor ailment. In choosing our camp that
evening we were entirely misdirected by an af¥able and
intoxicated lady of rather distinguished if gaudy appear-
ance, by whose advice we went at least seven miles out of
our way. We met her again the following day at the
village of a very youthful chief of the Agulu tribe, named
Mbaula, who had just succeeded to the position, and found
that she, quite old enough to be his mother, was his chief
wife thrown in with the position ! For amongst most
Bantu people an heir invariably takes over his prede-
cessor's wives. She was still a little drunk and more
debonair than ever, which suggested that she possibly had

D

50 THROUGH THE HEART OF AFRICA

sent us out of our way so as to give herself time for a
finishing touch to her toilet, and her first consideration
was to see that we, too, were generously supplied with
beer. As may be inferred, it was the beer season, and
the entire population of this neighbourhood seemed for
the time to have forsaken all other forms of nutriment.

Before we succeeded in actually reaching the Ugalla
River we had still further examples of the utter unrelia-
bility of the natives' estimate of direction and distance.
In fact, after thinking we had reached it at least twice,
we began to despair of reaching it at all, if not actually
to doubt of its existence. When we finally crossed it on
the 3rd September, the bed was mostly dry, and water
only remained in a series of stagnant pools, but its
neighbourhood justified its reputation as a haunt of game.
For the last ten or twelve miles the bush at either side of
our route was full of it, and without making a long halt
we saw topi, hartebeeste, roan, sable, reedbuck, and bagged
two roan (out of an extraordinarily tame herd at our
camp), and a leopard at about 10 a.m., a few hours before
getting there. The thick jungle on both banks was full
of bird-life, and the woods for miles round were criss-
crossed with game tracks running from all directions down
to the river ; we stayed here two nights and, including
elephant and hippopotamus, of which we only saw the
fresh spoor, we found no less than seventeen different
species of game.

An hour or two after pitching camp a crocodile was
reported in the pool at which the natives were drawing
water. One of us went to investigate, and at 5.30 a gun
boy returning to camp for more ammunition, the other
joined him and found he had already bagged six. We
spent the rest of the evening sitting on the high bank
under the shelter of the thick shrubbery, ruthlessly picking
off the noisome reptiles one by one as they came up to
the surface for a breath. The attacks of the tsetse fly
and of the mosquitoes as the sun got lower were pretty
nearly unbearable, but w^e added another six huge victims
to the bag before approaching darkness warned us that it

RUKWA TO TABORA

51

was time to return to camp. On our way back we almost
ran into a herd of zebra strolling unconcernedly towards
the river for their evening drink, but we left them alone
and contented ourselves with bringing down a brace of
guinea-fowl out of the dozens that were coming chattering
along to roost in the branches of nearly every tree of any
size on either bank.

Our night's rest was undisturbed except by the restless-
ness of the three dogs that we had with us, who kept barking
now and again during the night and making occasional
rushes into the gloom beyond the firelight. In the
morning we found that two lions had been strolling round
the camp on their way down to the water, and in passing
had evidently stood for a while and taken a good look at
us, from fifteen to sixteen paces from our tents.

As this was probably to be our best chance of any
good shooting that side of Tabora — and the local natives,
two of whose villages were close to our camp, begged us
to shoot them some meat to supplement their diminished
food supply — we decided to stay another day, and the
following morning one made an early start to try the
grazing grounds that lay to the north-east, away from
the river.

By 9 o'clock and less than four miles from camp a
bag of six sable and one mpala had been secured, and
roan, reedbuck, hartebeeste, warthog, and giraffe had been
seen on the way. The last-named were a huge pair,
sighted at about 300 yards, lurching away into the distance.
The roan and topi were a little wary, but the sable, mostly
young, were extraordinarily tame, and could without much
difficulty have been completely wiped out.

Towards evening another visit was paid to the crocodile
pools, and four more victims were accounted for — one
was a young one, which fell to a ball-and-shot gun as it
lay asleep on the bank. The Greener .310 again surprised
us by completely perforating the body of a wounded
monster as he rolled and twisted about on the surface.
Some three or four of them crawled out on to the bank
when wounded, and enabled us to realise their hideous

52 THROUGH THE HEART OF AFRICA

bulk ; the remainder sank where they were shot, to rise
again after a short interval, their tails lashing and churn-
ing up the filthy water in their furious contortions, and
finally either entirely floating or remaining suspended in
the water with a nose, a tail or a gleaming yellow belly
protruding above the surface. A skull of a waterbuck and
a few horns and bones at the edge of the pools bore
witness to the gruesome fate that was awaiting the unwary
antelope as he came down to quench his thirst. The
danger of approaching too close, as well as the loathsome
state of the stagnant fluid, had forced the natives to dig
holes in the sand at a discreet distance and wait for the
water to filter through, and we felt not the slightest com-
punction in executing as many of the disgusting brutes as
we possibly could.

The sun was already too far below the horizon when
we left the scene of slaughter for us to make an attempt to
secure any of the numerous wildfowl that were whirring
and whistling overhead, so with a couple of pigeons and
another guinea-fowl for the pot we hastened back to camp.
In the deepening dusk about half-way w^e espied the form
of a fat waterbuck something less than 50 yards away on
the opposite bank of the river-bed. It was too tempting
to resist ; a couple of shots from a .360 knocked him over,
and on our arrival in camp just after dark we sent a
handful of natives to fetch him in. They were not en-
thusiastic about it, even when given a lanthorn and a gun,
but they went, and in less than an hour they were back
again, empty-handed, declaring there was no beast there
for them to bring in. We were convinced that there was,
for it was certain that the waterbuck hadn't got as much
as a kick in him when we came away ; and, suspecting
that they had been thinking rather too much about lions
to make a thorough search, we told off our hunter
Chumamaboko to take them back again, and, reinforced
by an acetylene lamp and another gun, to be sure of
finding the correct spot. Chuma didn't exactly jump at
it either, but he obeyed without any express demur.
However, he hadn't been gone more than half an hour

RUKWA TO TABORA

53

before he was back with the same story. There was no
waterbuck : only unmistakable signs of its having been
dragged away in a thick belt of jungle. Some lazy im-
pudent beast of a lion had evidently been hanging round
for the chance of a cheap meal, and hadn't been long in
picking it up either. There was nothing for it but for us
to sally forth ourselves. It was pitch dark and quite im-
possible for us to find our way through the tangled
undergrowth, and, a fortiori, to ascertain what had happened
without an effective light ; so, arming ourselves with a
ball-and-shot gun and an ordinary scatter gun loaded
with S.S.G., we set out, carrying the acetylene light, which,
while likely to spoil any chance of a shot by frightening
the beast from its prey, was not to be despised as afford-
ing a safeguard against attack.

We might just as well have stayed in camp, however,
for Chumamaboko's account had been, we found, a per-
fectly correct one ; and though we found the spot where
the waterbuck had fallen, and followed the spoor of the
lion and the buck as it had been dragged through the
thickets for no little way, we found progress slow, and,
not hearing anything of the marauder, came to the con-
clusion that he must have taken his meal a considerable
distance, and we returned to camp.

That night, being fairly certain of another visit from the
lions and hoping for the chance of bagging one, we gave
orders to our boys to call us immediately should they
be detected close at hand. From eight or nine o'clock
the dogs were incessantly on the alert. We went to bed
at our usual time, and for some time heard nothing
except the occasional uneasy barks of the dogs, and the
snoring of the natives round the fire. Just after midnight,
however, a probably excellent chance was just missed ; the
boy who was to wake us saw one of the lions at about 12
yards, from just beyond one of the outer fires, and cauti-
ously creeping up with the object apparently of bagging
the dog that was barking at him. The boy came and told
us at once, but it was too late ; by the time we had
emerged from our tents, the lion, probably put on his

54 THROUGH THE HEART OF AFRICA

guard, had vanished. Two minutes later, however, we had
a rather rare and somewhat alarming experience of hearing
him giving chase to a small buck just outside the range
of our firelight. The convulsive grunt of the lion as he
bounded after his victim, and the frantic squeals of the
buck, which did not, apparently, get caught, brought our
carriers to their feet in no time expecting all sorts of un-
pleasant possibilities. Chuma, lifting himself up on an
elbow, looked round sleepily and said with some contempt
" Chimbwe " — which means " hyaena " — and went to sleep
again. The lions were not taking any more risks, and we
were not disturbed again, Chuma was led round in the
morning to inspect the spoor all round the camp — and
had to apologise.

It was a tempting place to stop at, but as we wanted
to get to Tabora without any further pauses, we had to
tear ourselves away. At the end of the next two days'
journey, chiefly remarkable for the amount of tsetse fly
and giraffe spoor on the way, we struck one of the Bis-
marckburg and Tabora roads at a village called Kakoma's.

This village presented no features of especial interest,
and we would have pushed on a stage farther had we not
been told by the local natives that there was no village or
water within three hours — although we doubted this, our
ignorance of the country made us decide to camp there,
and we felt fairly annoyed the next day at finding villages
with water at i, 4, 13, 15, 17 and 18J miles, the second
one being one they had told us was three hours off.

The village at i8| miles was quite a big place, inhabited
by the Wa-Gunda and ruled over by Kalula, a big stout
woman, who visited us at our camp outside the village.
Carried on a man's shoulders and wearing some gorgeous
cheap clothes and a white helmet, she brought her own
chair with her, and sat down in the open barn-like shelter
allotted to Europeans and conversed with us in Ki-Swahili
for some time. She then returned to her quarters and
sent the women of the village to fetch water for us, and
also told them to bring plenty of food to barter for the
meat with which our carriers were plentifully supplied ;

A Temko village (to kicht ok background). Beehives in trees

IN THE FOREGROUND.

In a Mugunua Village. In the koregkound is a naiive bed.

RUKWA TO TABORA

55

this was a suggestion that was readily enough compHed
with, and throughout the afternoon the camping was a
busy scene of hagghng and chattering natives, a thin con-
tinuous stream of old hags, buxom matrons, lithe young
girls and little children coming with their tiny bowls and
baskets of flour and going with their still tinier bits of
meat. No one, of course, was ever satisfied with a bargain,
but it was all good-natured and seemed to be rather a
joke to be cheated than a ground of serious complaint.

As a rule, the women drive a fairly hard bargain, as
they know that the porters must have the flour at any
price ; but at Kalula's the women came in such large
numbers and all wanted meat so badly that for once the
competition was the other way round, and the carriers ob-
tained good supplies of flour, kasava, beans, &c., without
making serious inroads upon their supply of dried meat,

Kalula's village is well built and consists of many fine
huts, both round and rectangular, but the outstanding
feature was Kalula's own house, a large two-storied
building of sun-dried bricks, which at the time of our visit
was being more or less reconstructed — the walls and first
floor heightened, the roof altered, and a verandah being
added.

Originally built in 1907, it measures about 60 by 45
feet and is about 30 feet high. The roof timber, window-
frames, bars in the windows, door-frames and doors are
all made of massive sawn timber, and the bricks are
well laid, though the angles and lines are hardly marked
by mathematical accuracy. Nevertheless, considering
the fact that it is the work of unsupervised native
labour, the result is almost as creditable as the plan is
ambitious.

The Germans apparently make a point of placing
women in power, in succession to male chiefs who die or
are removed, as being less likely to cause trouble. The
predecessor of our friend Muchereka was a chief who used
to amuse himself by shooting the old men in his village,
because, he said, the hawks were hungry. The German
authorities got a bit tired of this and deposed him, placing

56 THROUGH THE HEART OF AFRICA

him in a small village by himself. He then appealed for
a gun on account of the lions, but received no more com-
fort than to be told that he had better trap them. How-
ever, before long he managed to secure a firearm of some
kind from some one and shot the first old man who was
rash enough to visit him. After this exploit he was
arrested and taken to Ujiji, where he still languishes, and
Muchereka was appointed in his stead. Similarly on the
execution of Pirula, the Mutwaki chief of the Wafipa, the
late Sa (predecessor of the lady of that name whom we
met) was put in his place.

Three of our seven Rhodesian boys being a bit seedy,
we rested the next day, one going out to get some meat
for our hostess and securing a roan, while the other re-
mained in camp writing letters — which was rather diffi-
cult, as a tremendous and erratic wind arose which got
hold of everything that was not tied down, and blew the
lighter articles to the four points of the compass. The spare
fly in front of one of the tents was swept away, and while
the two tents were still suffering from the attack, a dust
devil came along and nearly lifted one of them bodily
from the ground. Luckily some of our staff were near
and held on to the ropes for dear life, saving it from
a violent journey into the clouds. Tents and men were
both flapping about in a limp and helpless attitude when
the dust devil passed on to wreck the nearest thatched roof.

Anything more uninviting than the country round
Kalula's it would be difficult to imagine. How this poor
soil, clothed with a wretched scrub, manages to support
even the small scattered population that exists here it
is hard to guess. It is not apparently even a good grazing
country, for since we left the Kavu River a fortnight previ-
ously the large flocks of sheep and goats had dwindled
down to few or none, and Kasamia's and Kalula's were
the only two villages in which there were any cattle.
Maize is the staple crop, but as the villages remain in the
same places year after year, the soil, which can never have
been anything but poor, is so exhausted that but very poor
returns are obtained.

RUKWA TO TABORA 57

The natives are very friendly and respectful to the
stranger, and never failed to treat us with courtesy in
all their dealings with us. They seem a contented and
fairly prosperous community in spite of the poor country
in which they have to spend their lives, and there was at
any rate no apparent chafing at the German rule.

The only notable features after leaving Kalula's were
a fine belt of timber beginning at 30 miles from Tabora,
the cessation of tsetse fly, an interesting change of native
diet, and the second example of the pretentious palaces
which some of these chiefs build for themselves. The
timber belt, which extended for some 7 miles, was a
refreshing change after the long scrubby stretch of coun-
try, devoid of anything worth calling a tree, through
which we had been passing. In this belt we found two
deserted sawpit-camps and a third in full working, in
which we saw several hundred fine straight logs about
25 feet long and from 9 to 30 inches in diameter. The
wood was of a good hard type not unlike elm, lighter
in colour than the teak-like wood {rnalombwa) so com-
mon in Northern Rhodesia, and lacking both the soft
white outer edge of the same tree and the red-black
core of the mopani. This timber, which is locally called
mukula, is excellent material for general carpenter-
ing and cabinet work. The fly belt ended about 12
miles south of Tabora, and at about the same spot we
found ourselves among a people whose staple food was
no longer maize, but kasava. This change from cereals
to roots was rather curious, as at Tabora itself and for
a long way to the north of it the natives eat kaffir corn
(sorghum).

The " palace," which was built after the same model
and on the same scale as Kalula's, but was in a finished
state, was the residence of the Itetemia, the chief who
rules over the flat bare country covered with granite
kopjes that are a striking feature of the environs of
Tabora.

The road winds in and out of these rocks without
giving any indication of what lies beyond, and on Sep-

58 THROUGH THE HEART OF AFRICA

tember i ith, on turning a corner, we came quite suddenly
on the township of Tabora, lying at our feet, with its
fine old mango trees closely dotted over the rolling plains,
presenting the appearance of a veritable oasis in the midst
of the bare landscape. The morning sun had not yet
attained much strength as we came to the first street
sign we had seen for a very long time, and found our-
selves in " Itetemia Strasse," out of which we turned to-
wards the fort to call on the Commandant, or Governor,
of the District,

V

TABORA

Cordial reception by the officials — Engagement of carriers — The market
— The mission — Description of the town — Absence of any form of
recreation grounds — Herr Siegel, the Distrikts Kommissar — Trans-
port via the Uganda Railway — Curious contention of the Germans —
The effect of the German railway from Dar-es-Salam on this
traffic and on Tabora.

The Government buildings, just as fort-like as those at
Bismarckburg though better and more artistically built,
stand on a rocky spur at the junction of the Kilimatinde
and Bismarckburg roads and look down upon the town-
ship spreading away to the north and north-west. They
are constructed of granite with red iron roofs, and
consist of a large square, the sides of which are occupied
by offices and mess-rooms. On reaching the gates, at
which we were agreeably impressed and surprised at our
courteous reception by the sentries, we learnt that the
Commandant was away on safari, and his deputy and
assistant had gone out shooting — it being Sunday — but
were expected back shortly, and meanwhile, guided by
a trooper told off for our escort by the Sergeant of the
guard, we proceeded to call upon Herr Siegel, the
Distrikts Kommissar — District Commissioner — at his
quarters a few hundred yards down Bahnhof Strasse, a
tine street leading away from the Fort to the north-
west. He met us at his door and gave us a most
friendly welcome, from which we learnt with pleasure
that he spoke excellent English. On learning that we
preferred our tents to the hotel — of the existence of
which we learnt with some surprise — he took us a little
farther down the Strasse and showed us an excellent
spot on the road, and in the shelter of a group of mag-
nificent old mangoes, at which to pitch our camp.

59

6o THROUGH THE HEART OF AFRICA

He then invited us to accompany him to the Boma,
where we enjoyed a very welcome drink in the official
mess. Herren Knach and Busch had meanwhile returned,
and presently joined us. Neither was more than slightly
acquainted with English, but the sincerity of their welcome
to us was sufficiently obvious, and they insisted on us
being their guests while at Tabora.

They were hungry after their morning's shoot, and
our breakfast we had almost forgotten, so we sat down
to a meal of beefsteaks and Guinness and Pilsener. We
had done ourselves thoroughly well by the time our
hosts rose, saying it was time to shed their bush togs,
and it came as a shock to be told that we should, of
course, be expected to come and enjoy the warthog
at 12 o'clock lunch. It was only 10.30 and the meal
we had been sharing was the sportsmen's breakfast !
'Twere ungrateful to shirk it ; an effort had to be made,
and, though we rather doubted the sufficiency of an
hour's rest in camp to produce another appetite at so
short a notice, we turned up again at noon, for that
warthog-liver lunch, and, what is more, we did it justice.

Dinner at 7.30 was another enjoyable meal, at which
we were the same party as at lunch with one addition,
but the evening ended early, our host very sensibly
remarking at about 9.15 that it was time for bed. A
notable feature of the meal was that we were served
with the famous black bread, which we, both of us,
preferred to the brown, and the brown was equal to
any average English loaf.

One of our first tasks now was to collect another
gang of men to act as carriers for the journey to
Mwanza. We had written some time before our arrival
to the Officer in charge at Tabora asking him if he could
be of assistance to us in the matter. Knowing of some
other travellers who had had to wait over a week at
Tabora under identical circumstances, we were a little
anxious, even after an assurance that there would be no
trouble in raising men, when we learnt that, in compliance
with our request, it was intended to send out for men

TABORA

6i

the folloiving day. But early next morning we were
awakened by the news that three or four of our
Bismarckburg gang, however, had decided to come on, ten
volunteers had joined us at the Ugalla River, and with
some more volunteers that had applied for employment
the previous evening, there were now altogether fifty men
who were anxious to go with us to Mwanza ; so there
was after all not much cause for alarm.

The fact was that, owing to the large number of loads
arriving at Mwanza ex Europe via Kilindini, the Uganda
Railway and Kisumu for German East Africa, there was
constant employment for thousands of carriers at Mwanza.
The Wanyamwezi — though nothing will induce them to
work in the rains — are in the dry season only too ready
to accept any employment that will take them to a dis-
tribution centre like Mwanza. By ten o'clock we had
all but the required number, when Herr Siegel, who had
put himself at our service for a few hours, arrived at our
camp and made clear to them, in what we thought the
most admirable manner, their conditions of service. They
were to get Rs.5.50 for the trip to Mwanza, R. 1.50 in
advance as food allowance, and Rs.4 on arrival at Mwanza.
This was an improvement on the rate at which we had to
pay our Bismarckburg men — 208 miles for Rs.5.50 as
against 280 for Rs.i8.

With Herr Siegel as cicerone we then did a tour of
the town. First to the Post-Office, where information was
given and our business dealt with with courtesy and de-
spatch, and where we learnt the dates of sailing of the
Uganda Railway boats at Mwanza ; then to the Hotel,
which is also one of three principal European stores,
where we were able to make quite a number of useful
additions to our stock of provisions, then through a fine
avenue of old miiawa trees, the branches of which met over-
head, on to the Indian bazaar, which provided us with a
few items, e.g. paraffin, flour, and potatoes, that we had
not been able to get at the hotel, and so to the native
market, which we found in full swing. It is carried on in
four large thickly thatched buildings with open sides, each-

62 THROUGH THE HEART OF AFRICA

consisting, in fact, of a roof on heavy pillars, and situated
in a broad square. Two of the buildings are devoted to the
sale of a variety of native produce, e.g. snuff, dried kasava,
meal and grain of all kinds — maize, millet, sorghum —
sugar-cane and soap — manufactured from wood ashes and
butter or beef fat — and cheap ornaments of European
origin. The soap vendors may be seen sitting with a tray
of their wares before them sedulously working specimens
of it into a lather to convince intending purchasers of its
quality. Of the other two buildings one seemed to be
devoted entirely to the sale of meat — mostly beef — which
is sold at 5 heller per lb. = 20 lbs. for one-and-fourpence,
and the other to native beer. This may be brewed from
any of the local grains, e.g. maize, millet, sorghum or a
grass-like seed known as wuwere, and is sold retail at a
heller a draught.

We were not a little impressed by the decent order
that prevailed in spite of the constant stream of buyers
and sellers. A small guard that is always on duty in the
market-place itself, as well as the proximity of the sub-
sidiary fort, evidently have no difficulty in keeping things
quiet. After buying two rupees' worth of beef — 40 lbs. —
which we discovered later to be worth just about what we
gave for it and no more — we returned to our camp, Herr
Siegel proceeding to his quarters.

After lunch we first finished our mails and then we
made another brief tour, this time with cameras. At 5
P.M. we called upon Pere Schmitt and his colleagues at
the French Mission, whose buildings and garden we had
passed in the Mission Strasse on the way to and from the
market. The Mission house is a fine specimen of an old
Arab dwelling, adapted to European needs. It is of a fine
height with steep, pitched, thatched roof, a broad verandah
supported by the original fluted wooden pillars ; the rooms
are small but cool. The Church, which stands within 100
yards and is enclosed by the same high wall, is simply
built of sun-dried bricks, while the Sisters' residence, con-
structed of similar materials, lies a short distance off in a
separate compound.

The soap vendors

. SITTING . . . SEDULOUSLY WORKING SPECIMENS
OF IT INTO A LATHER."

TABORA

63

Tabora as we saw it will soon cease to exist just as the
old Arab Tabora of pre-European days has already dis-
appeared, for when the railway arrives early in 191 2 the
place will change rapidly. Of the old Arab settlement a
few traces only remain, the greater part has gone, and in
the place of irregularly built and more irregularly placed
hovels, straight streets of well-built dwellings are being
put up. The groups of mangoes in every direction, avenues
of mangoes and mitawa and a few palms stand as monu-
ments to the Arab, who always planted where he settled.
Pere Schmitt had some negatives of the old Arab town
and its market, but as neither he nor we had any printing
paper we could not get any prints. Nothing remains now
but three of the doors, one of which is illustrated in this
chapter, a few scattered doorways, and pillars, the best of
which are on the front verandah at the Mission.

On this Arab foundation the Germans have built, as
usual, regardless of cost. The roads are fairly broad
and very well kept, being in every case planted with
trees ; some old mangoes and mitawa of the Arab days, the
majority younger, but carrying the promise of shade in
the future — and at Tabora shade is a considerable asset.
The boma is a fort, which was built to supersede the
old fort by the market-place, and is surrounded by a wall
above which rise the two-storied buildings, which form
the corners, connected at the sides by lower buildings.
The officials do not live within the fort, which from one
side bears a distinct resemblance to a pagoda, but their
dwellings lie on either side of Bahnhof Strasse, and are
well built, though too low for iron-roofed buildings
and rather small. The older ones have gable ends and
verandahs back and front ; the newer ones are octagonal
with pavilion roofs and deep verandah rooms on four
sides. All the buildings are of stone, pointed with cement
and roofed with iron ; but all are more or less spoilt by
not having a false upper storey with ventilators.

Apart from the Mission the dwelling-houses and busi-
ness premises of the non-official European population
resemble those of the Government Staff, being equally

64 THROUGH THE HEART OF AFRICA

well built but suffering from the same defects as to
insufficient height.

The population throughout the town, as in the market-
place, is orderly and the place far quieter than one would
expect. During our stay we saw no rowdiness, and the
cleanliness of the town is remarkable considering the
number and nature of the community. This order and
cleanliness is obtained without undue parade of force in
the shape of either military or police.

The European population consists of two officers and
two sergeants (in charge of 200 police), perhaps a dozen
civil officials, including clerks, and fourteen traders and
missionaries ; and with a population of this size — no
inconsiderable township for Central Africa — it seems
extraordinary that there is absolutely no recreation ground
of any kind ; though Tabora lies on what can best be
described as gigantic and perfect golf links, which would
also give room for several race- courses, or even aero-
dromes, and tennis courts could be made anywhere.

In the evening we dined once more at the fort, and
enjoyed some two hours' conversation with Herr Siegel
after his confreres had withdrawn. He was charmingly
hospitable, genial, sympathetic, and we felt that we might
have been talking to a colleague. The country, the natives
and native administration as well as Anglo-German polities,
were freely dealt with. He showed the same broad-minded
and intelligent grasp of international as of local questions
which charmed and impressed us, and made one feel that
with men of his type in the service the conduct of affairs in
German East Africa is in capable hands. We had already
had an opportunity of seeing his methods of handling
the natives, with whose own language as well as the official
Ki-Swahili he was well acquainted. He showed a wide
knowledge of as well as sympathy with the many interest-
ing tribes of the country ; he had spent eight and a half
years in German East Africa ; the last four in Tabora itself,
and he expressed himself as quite content to end his days
there. In contrast to the concern expressed in other quarters
at our choice of route, he keenly appreciated the spirit of

A FINE OLD Arab carved dookwav at Tabora (in an Arab house).

TABORA 65

our journey and said, on learning of our detour to the
Rukwa valley, " of course, knowing the natives, you find it
much more interesting travelling along the less beaten
tracks and as far as possible away from the btirra burra."

More striking, perhaps, than our agreement on the
majority of subjects on which we touched was a peculiar
difference of opinion apparently common to all the officials
on the question of the completion of the railway from the
coast to Lake Tanganyika and its effect on existing trans-
port routes and transport receipts. We had already had
ample evidence that large quantities of the goods imported
into German East Africa and the Belgian Congo from
Europe were being carried by the Uganda Railway and
its steamers to Mwanza and thence distributed by native
porterage. Even before reaching Tabora we had met
numbers of carriers whose loads bore the Kilindini Port
(Mombasa) marks, and the French Fathers at Tabora had
informed us that this was the route by which the mission-
aries and traders on both shores of Lake Tanganyika and
the Western Districts generally of German territory,* almost
without exception imported their goods. Mr. Don, too,
who had cycled through the country at about the same
time of year, had told us that between Tabora and Mwanza
he had met about 1000 loads on each of the three days
which he occupied on this section. We were aware that
the German Government, for reasons of its own, invariably
imported by Dar-es-Salam, even though this meant using
a route which, in the infancy of the railway, was more
dilatory and expensive, and that all officials, except those
of the Victoria Nyanza districts, were forbidden to enter or
leave the country by the British route. It was, however,
a little astonishing to be assured that we were actually
quite mistaken in supposing that there was, or ever had
been, any considerable tendency among the importers of
German East Africa, except those on the shores of the
Victoria Nyanza, to make use of the Mombasa and Port
Florence system. It seemed to us a curious instance of a
desire to minimise by sheer denial an unpalatable fact.

^ Viz. Ruanda, Urundi, Ujiji, Tabora, Bukoba, Mwanza.

66 THROUGH THE HEART OF AFRICA

Surely this was the logic that inspired in the ostrich
the belief that, if his face were covered, his pursuers could
not see him. We had not long to wait for still further
evidence of the fallacy of the German official contention.
Between Tabora and Mwanza, travelling on but one of
three possible routes, we met a constantly increasing
stream of natives with loads for the interior whose marks
plainly betrayed their port of entry, and in the course of
ten days must have seen not less than 5000 such loads,
and finally we learnt on the s.s. Sibyl that, besides the
cargo carried by the Arab dhows, the Uganda Railway
boats were discharging on an average 250 tons per month
at Mwanza. Mwanza itself can scarcely absorb more
than a third of this, if as much ; but reckoning its con-
sumption at that rate, we are left with a total of 80,000
carriers' loads per annum for Tabora and beyond, dis-
charged by the steamers at Mwanza. The dhow-borne
cargo is by no means inconsiderable, including as it does
not only bulky goods of small value, but all the paraffin
imported by this route — the steamboats refusing to carry
it — of which we met some hundreds of cases going south.

Whether the loss of the greater part of this freight
will affect to a serious degree the receipts of the Uganda
Railway with its already considerable and rapidly in-
creasing local traffic in goods to and from British East
Africa and Uganda, we were hardly in a position to judge,
but that it will have some effect seems as obvious as the
German attitude is perplexing. Another more natural
but less innocuous mistake seems to be being made by
those who are anticipating that the arrival at Tabora of
the railway from Dar-es-Salam will mark the beginning
of a big local boom.

That there will be the temporary increase of business
inseparable from the presence of railway construction
works, there can be no question, but before a belief in its
permanent future can be justified, an examination of the
basis of its present degree of prosperity is advisable.

There are three principal stores which keep a varied
stock of European goods, but by far the greater portion

TABORA 67

of the trade is in the hands of Indian traders, and consists
in the sale to natives of cloth and cheap goods, and
therefore depends not only upon the wage-earning capa-
city of the native population, but on the point at which
this population receives its wages. At the present time
besides the Government employes (native troops, &c.),
whose monthly wage-bill amounts to some ;^400 or ^500,
the wage-earning class consists almost entirely of the crowds
of carriers who are paid off after bringing loads from
Mwanza and the coast. Now it is sufficiently obvious
that on the completion of the line to Tabora this carrier
work will, except to a limited extent for distribution to
outgoing parts, practically cease to exist. Once the
railway construction has passed there will be a large local
population in search of employment. Employment will
not be lacking, but it will be on the farms and plantations
nearer the coast, where the workers will not only be paid
their wages, but will probably also have plenty of oppor-
tunity of spending what they earn at the stores that will
be erected or now exist in that neighbourhood. Thus
not only will the railway take the place of the native
carriers' transport, but the quantity of the actual goods to
be carried will ipso facto considerably diminish.

There will be, in fact, a redistribution of labour, in
which Tabora seems likely to suffer the most. In the
days of Arab predominance Tabora was the main depot
between the lakes and interior on the one side and the
coast on the other, and up to the present it has more or
less maintained this position under German rule. Once
deprived, as it will be by the railway, of its importance as
a transport centre, it is difficult to see on what will rest
the prosperity of a large town in a practically non-pro-
ductive stretch of country in the heart of tropical Africa.

It can boast of nothing in its immediate neighbour-
hood but its herds of cattle, and they are within a very
few miles of tsetse-fly belts on every side.

The farmers and settlers will scarcely be tempted to
invest their capital in a bleak, waterless and, except for
one strip, timberless country with a rather poor soil and

68 THROUGH THE HEART OF AFRICA

obviously risky if otherwise suitable for the raising of
cattle.

On the other hand, there is a faint possibility of
Tabora taking the place of Dar-es-Salam as the adminis-
trative capital of the territory. If this should occur, there
is of course no doubt that the town will enter upon an
era of prosperity which, if not prodigious, will at any rate
be stable. There are at present some 200 officials of all
grades at Dar-es-Salam, and as probably not more than a
third would be needed at the port, the transfer of the seat
of Government would mean the accession of a considerable
population to the town. Failing this, it looks very much
as if, with the advance of civilisation and the iron road,
the penultimate chapter in the history of this old Arab
metropolis is being written.

The requisite number of carriers had been made up
without any difficulty, and at two o'clock on the 13th Sep-
tember, after bidding our hosts farewell, we continued our
journey north. Our personal staff from Rhodesia was
still with us, with the exception of one, who was returned
to his home from Tabora, travelling as far as Bismarck-
burg with the carriers whom we had engaged from there.

VI

TABORA TO MWANZA

Encounter with party of missionaries — Curious rock formation at Ngaya
— Notes on the Wanyamwezi — Game on Mbala Plain — Soap and
oil factory at Salabwe — Scenery on Mwanza Gulf — Carriers on road
— Arrival at Mwanza.

It is always difficult to make an early and punctual
start after a stay at a civilised centre, and taking the west
of the three routes to Mwanza along which the telegraph
line runs, and which we had chosen, partly as offering the
best opportunities of sport, we made a short trek of
miles.

The country that we were now going through was
barer than ever. The grass that bordered our track for
the first 4 miles was thin and close-cropped by cattle ;
trees, except in small isolated groups, were conspicuous by
their absence. The grass presently gave way to native
gardens on both sides, and at the place where we camped
the road itself was the only possible place on which to
pitch our tents ; dry sorghum stalks were the only available
fuel, and with the added discomfort of a small hurricane,
which kept us on the qui vive most of the night, and all but
swept our tents from their bearings, it was small wonder
that the morning found us but poorly refreshed and dis-
inclined to get up till a little after half-past six. Our
usual practice during this section was to rise at about
4.30 A.M. and, breakfasting at once, to send most of our
carriers ahead, and get off about an hour later. Except
during the three or four days following the full moon, an
earlier start was hardly practicable ; nor indeed did we find
it necessary, for though we averaged more than 20 miles
a day between Tabora and Mwanza, we never failed to

reach camp before the noonday heat. By a simple

69

70 THROUGH THE HEART OF AFRICA

method of sharing our remaining machine we were both
able, if necessary, to do half of each day's journey on foot
and half on bicycle, e.g. if the journey were one of 20
miles, the first of us could take the machine, ride 10, and
leave it on the path for the other. As a matter of fact,
we always began the day by both walking an hour or so,
and rode and walked roughly half and half of the rest
of the way. A native, picked for the purpose, always
accompanied the bicycle while it was being ridden,
wheeled or carried it where it was not in use, and was
generally, though not always, in charge of it when it was
left by the roadside.

At about 8.30 A.M. on our second day we met a
party of three French missionaries on their way from
Mwanza. All were on bicycles, and were taking advan-
tage of a smooth stretch of path to do a double days'
journey into Tabora, which they hoped to reach about
noon, having camped some seven hours back.

These were the advance-guard of a party of thirteen,
consisting of eleven Fathers and Brothers and two Sisters,
of whom we had heard from Pere Schmitt, and the
balance of which we found an hovir later at a wayside
camp. All except the Father in charge were newcomers
to Africa, and all were bound for various posts on the
Belgian as well as on the German side of Lake Tangan-
yika. As they reported that there was no water within
another six hours, we decided to go no farther, and
bivouacked under the lea of a hill a few hundred yards
from their camp. Later the Pere Superieur paid us a
visit, and after a cup of tea took us back with him to
return the call, which was celebrated with a bottle of wine.

Shortly after dark our carriers amused and surprised
us by getting up a party to go out and kill birds. Armed
with sticks and knob-kerries and torches of burning grass
they sallied forth quite confident of returning in an hour
or so with a few guinea-fowl or partridges, which they said
they would find on the roost. We promised to put six-
pence on every bird they killed, but we were not called
upon to pay.

TABORA TO MWANZA

71

Two hours through timbered but stony hills brought
us to flat, thinly-wooded and scrub-clothed country with
no water for 16J miles. About the middle of it v/e
came across an interesting example of the commer-
cial spirit of the German East African natives in the
shape of a wayside stall at which half a dozen of the
inhabitants of the nearest villages were sitting, with pots
of beer for sale to passing caravans. There was a
quantity of spoor on the way. Giraffe, eland, harte-
beeste and topi, all but the first being fresh, but no game,
barring a single duiker, was seen. The next three days
were dull treks of 20, 24I, and 19 J miles, the last of
which brought us to the French Fathers' mission at
Ngaya. At the end of the first our carriers came in a
deputation to protest against the rate at which we were
travelling. They were completely exhausted, they said,
they had had no time to buy food on the way, and they
must have a rest the next day. As the majority of them
were Wanyamwezi, who enjoy the reputation of being
about the best carriers in Africa, this tickled us not a
little. We were sorry, we told them, that they were
tmable to live up to their reputation, but they must stick
to it, for the morrow's trek was going to be longer still
— 24I miles. This much alarmed them, and they de-
clared there was no sokoni (market or stall at which to
buy food), no game, and little or no water on the
way. However, with a little threatening, to the effect
that if we loitered we should miss the steamer at Mwanza,
and that if we missed it there would be nothing for it but
to spend another fortnight in the bush before they got
paid off ; with a little chaff, and a promise that we would
make an early start and that they should buy food on the
way, we got round them, and did our 24I miles — to find
a sokoni, a small Indian store, and plenty of game, all quite
close to our camp.

Our boys from Rhodesia had naturally had a little
difficulty in adapting themselves to the local coinage
of the heller and the one-and-fourpenny rupee. Even
when they knew that 100 heller went to the rupee, which

72 THROUGH THE HEART OF AFRICA

took them some time, as they never troubled to count, they
seemed unable to dissociate the heller from the penny.

For instance, when one of them bought a small
handful of ground nuts for 3 heller, he firmly believed
he had been swindled, and it was in vain that we demon-
strated to him that, taking the local price of a yard of
calico (calico and beads forming the small coinage of his
country) at 25 heller, the ground nuts he had bought
(being, as he admitted, about one quarter of a yard's
worth in his country) had really cost him but half as
much as they did in Rhodesia. Similarly it was almost
equally vain to attempt to convince them that the meal
they were buying was, comparatively, as cheap, and that
anyway, they could buy as much as they could possibly
eat with their allowance of 10 heller per day. They
understood the calculation in the end, but whether they
believed our statements is another matter. Moreover, the
last argument never is convincing to a native ; he is quite
incapable of realising that he can only eat something less
than 2 lbs. of meal a day (which has been proved by
experiment), and thinks that under some circumstances
there is no limit at all.

The third day to Ngaya, first over a huge bare undu-
lating plain, dotted here and there with villages and herds
of cattle though humming with tsetse fly, then through a
patch of thirsty bush consisting entirely of straight long-
thorned saplings, and then out again into the open, was
not remarkable except for the big village of Kahama in
the first plain and the curious rocky ridge formation of
the second.

At Kahama's was the highest developed native market
that we had seen ; with its " pitches " for the sellers of
native produce, two or three Indian shops and a butchery,
it almost amounted to a bazaar. We bought some ex-
cellent lentils here at a heller a handful, which formed a
useful basis for the next two days' potage. The house of
the village chief was quite a notable one. Not so large
as either Kalula's or Tetemia's, it showed, with its high-
pitched roof with pavilion ends and creditable attempt

Natives threshing Kaffir corn.

TABORA TO MWANZA

73

at gable windows, a higher standard of architecture than
either.

It was towards Ngaya that the peculiar granite
boulders were first seen — the plains here are broken up
by low ridges running roughly north and south, their
long summits strewn and embattled by curiously regular
rows of granite masses — while here and there are huge
outcrops rising clear and solitary out of the flat surface
of the plain itself.

These latter, split horizontally by the same weathering
that has given the hill ridges the look of hewn blocks, form
sometimes a series of pillars, arches and colonnades that
by their huge bulk and grotesque arranc;ement suggest the
handiwork of some ambitious architect of the gigantic age.

The village of Ngaya, from which the camp derives
its name, consists of some dozen huts nestling, like many
of its fellows, at the foot of a group of these mighty
monoliths, from under which bubbles a little stream of
cool clear water spreading out and down to irrigate the
pasturage and gardens of millet and sugar-cane on the
lower slopes of the plain. We found the villages almost
solely occupied by women folk, the men apparently being
employed on transport or railway construction work
away from their homes. Those whom we saw struck us
as being of a good type, with bright, intelligent faces,
and we were particularly struck by the action of one
young girl who, noticing one of our dogs as he lay pant-
ing with the heat when we were making a short halt in
her village, spontaneously fetched him a bowl of water
to quench his thirst — an act of kindness rare enough in
any native : here prompted perhaps by a fellow feeling,
for the Wanyamwezi look on their women folk as an
animal so much lower in the scale of creation than man
that they habitually refer to them as " cows that cannot
be milked." ^ Here for the first time during the journey

^ Cf. The East African Protectorate, by Sir Charles Eliot, p. 125 : " Wives
are the recognised sign of wealth, and girls are regarded simply as calves which
can be sold for a price. . . . The Wakamba have no respect for maidens, and re-
gard a pregnant girl as the most eligible spouse, exactly as if she were a cow in
calf."

74 THROUGH THE HEART OF AFRICA

we saw women wearing the small bead apron which is
common in parts of South Africa, though here apparently
it is only worn by unmarried girls.

Just round the corner of another ridge we came upon
another village and a small native market, and saw the
Mission Church about ij mile away amongst more boul-
ders to the west. We reached it at a little after eleven
o'clock, and were welcomed by the Pere Superieur and
a colleague, whom we had advised of our intended visit
by a runner in advance. After a cup of tea and an invita-
tion to supper, we retired to find a place to pitch our tents
and to get some lunch. But it is a dangerous thing to
leave anything to chance with natives, or not to provide
for all likely emergencies, and we found that, for once,
lunch was not such a simple matter as it seemed. Our
boys, opining that we should lunch at the Mission, had
not only got nothing ready for us, but had, with really
extraordinary ingenuity, absolutely surpassed all records
in the completeness with which they had provided for
our discomfort. The two lunch-baskets, which had kept
up with us with the most exceptional and praiseworthy
pertinacity for nearly 20 miles, were found to be empty
of everything except a couple of lumps of rancid beef —
no bread, biscuits, butter, tea, kettle, cheese, clean plates
or anything. Even their legitimate contents had nearly
all been carefully transferred to and packed away in
other loads, which, of course, were miles behind. One
of the boys' explanation of this eccentric appreciation
of the uses of a lunch-basket is worthy of a special place
in the annals of native logic. "Their fittings had been
left out because there were two of them ! " The cook
and another boy were despatched to find some loads
containing food, and we eventually stayed the pangs of
hunger with a cold collation of potted sausages and oaten
biscuits about 2 P.M. — nine hours after a scanty breakfast.
After pitching our tents in a sheltered valley amongst the
boulders, we paid another visit to the Mission, and, escorted
by the Pere Superieur, went over the church and buildings
— the latter are constructed in the Arab (ieinbo) archi-

TABORA TO MWANZA

75

tectural style with flat mudded roofs, and the whole is
enclosed in a spacious quadrangle of outbuildings, similarly
roofed, the outer wall of which, unpierced by any openings
except the entrance door, forms a screen between the settle-
ment and the native village without. The wall is some
9 or 10 feet in height and hides everything but the
gabled roof and tower of the church from all points
except the higher ground to the north.

The church was the finest piece of sun-dried brick
architecture that we had seen. Gracefully designed and
admirably constructed, the high-pitched roof of heavy
thatch was supported by timber couples resting upon the
outer walls and the round pillars of the nave. The pillars
were connected by stout lintels of timber in place of the
usual arches, which are practically impossible of construc-
tion in sun-dried brick.

As striking as the building itself were the beautifully
wrought and polished pieces of furniture and woodwork
which it contained, and which comprised an altar, a half-
life-sized crucifix, sedilia, and a set of picture-frames whose
simple beauty contrasted painfully with the crude and
gaudy lithographs that they held. All were of the same
local timber, called mukula, that we had seen being sawn
at the saw-pits near Tabora, and were the handiwork of
one of the Fathers. Later in the afternoon, when taking
photographs round our camp, we found the rocks swarming
with rock conies squatting and basking in the sun. We
were anxious to get one or two specimens for our natural
history collection, and so sent for a rook rifle, but, owing
to the inaccessibility of the rocks and crannies into which
most of our victims rolled, we had to shoot five or six
before we succeeded in securing a couple. At seven
o'clock we went down again to the Mission and supped
with the three Fathers of whom the staff consists. The
meal was their usual kind of simple but well-cooked
repast — soup, stewed duck, with boiled rice and tomatoes,
potatoes and salad ; the vegetables, according to their
custom, being eaten after instead of with the meat or
game, and some very palatable wafer-like biscuits made of

76 THROUGH THE HEART OF AFRICA

the local sorghum flour. The water-supply was not much
better than we had been finding it along the road. Our
hosts held up a glass of water that looked as if it was
diluted with lo per cent of milk and told us it was excep-
tionally good for that part of the country. They also told
us that the neighbourhood was poor for the raising of
vegetables, and that though it carried large herds of cattle,
of which they themselves owned a good herd, they ob-
tained but a poor supply of milk and little or no butter.
The Wanyamwezi, of whom there are some 3000 within
a radius of 3I miles, never kill their cattle, though they
sell for slaughter, keeping them mainly for the sake of the
butter, of which they make a fair quantity, but only for
anointing themselves or for the manufacture of soap, and
not for food. A rupee's worth that, anticipating an un-
usual treat, we had bought a few days earlier at a wayside
market was sufficiently convincing of the truth of this.

The name Wanyamwezi was that given to the tribes of
this locality by the people of the coast, which they are
constantly visiting, and which they maintain that every
male must visit at least once before he can call himself a
man. Its meaning is "the people of the moon," and is
applied to the tribes of the west as being the quarter in
which the new moon is first seen.

Whether they maintain any further connection with
the moon than this we did not hear, but the very next day
we had proof of their curious predilection for travelling by
moonlight.

On arriving at our camping ground a little before ten
o'clock (having for various reasons made a late start and
a short trek) we found it already occupied by some 40
to 50 carriers from Mwanza, resting with their loads at
their side. On asking whether they were not going on,
we received the reply that they had finished their day's
journey. Till about three o'clock their numbers went
on increasing, and finally we had to share the camp with
about 200 of them. Up to midnight they had not
caused us the slightest inconvenience, but then, the waning
moon having had time to get well above the horizon, they

TABORA TO MWANZA

77

proceeded to " get busy." It took them about an hour to
get really off, and the last ten minutes, as the main body
of them pulled out blowing cow-horn bugles and beating
a devil's tattoo on their boxes with knob-kerries and sticks,
it was simply pandemonium let loose. Curses were not
of the slightest effect, and though we thought seriously of
coming out and firing a few shots into the air by way
of intimidation, we were much too sleepy to do it, and lay
tight until the din should die away and let us slumber
again. Hardly had we turned over when a fresh develop-
ment interrupted the night's rest. Our boys, deceived by
the obtrusive energy of the Wanyamwezi and quite ignor-
ing the fact that the moon showed it to be only about
one o'clock, brought us our early tea ! Resisting with
difficulty the temptation to throw it in their faces, we
warned them not to come near us again till dawn, and
once more turned our faces to the wall, heartily blessing
those "children of the moon."

The Mbala plain, of which we had heard both at
Tabora and Ngaya as being an exceptionally good shoot-
ing ground, we reached after about an hour's travelling
the following day. In the morning haze its breadth from
east to west looked in places anything between 5 and
8 miles. Its length was about 10. Covered with un-
burnt grass up to 3^ feet high and with no cover of
any sort except stumpy ant-hills only occasionally tall
enough to show over the top, it did not look promis-
ing, and was very rough going. Our path fortunately
did not lead through the whole of it, but, after traversing
a corner for a mile or two, turned off into the thick bush,
and, after 5 or 6 miles more emerged again into the
northern end. On the first section we saw no life except
a few ostriches at about 600 yards. In the second
we found — and missed — a roan, and ten minutes later
spied what we thought were vultures circling over a spot
some 500 yards away to our right. In the hope of
a possible lion over a kill — a hope which was encour-
aged by Chumamaboko — we bore down upon it armed to
the teeth ; but on getting closer found that the vultures

78 THROUGH THE HEART OF AFRICA

were marabout, and there was neither game nor lion any-
where. An excited follower tried to convince us that a
herd of cattle that was grazing a quarter of a mile away
was one of the things we were looking for, but we dis-
agreed with him.

It was on the following day that we came on the
only settlers on our route through German East Africa,
a Hanoverian and a Bavarian, who, we had already heard
at Ngaya, were establishing a ground-nut oil factory at
Salabwe, on the Tabora-Mwanza road. As their settle-
ment was at a convenient halting-place, we were pre-
paring to find a spot to camp in the neighbourhood of
the only stream, but as soon as our arrival was noticed
we were cordially welcomed, and persuaded to camp in
their compound. After seeing to the pitching of our
tents, we repaired to the house, a small three-roomed
building of mud with an iron roof, where our host, who
knew a fair amount of English, assisted by his partner
in such perfect silence that for some three hours we
blandly believed him to be totally ignorant of the English
language, proceeded to dispense his hospitality. It con-
sisted briefly of a couple of liqueur glasses of whisky
followed by a gallon and a half of " Gold Bock " lager
beer each, which seemed to do us about as much harm
as an equal quantity of water.

There was a pause in our potations a little before
sundown, and we went round and looked at his
machinery. It was not yet complete, but what had
already arrived had, he told us, cost him over £ioo in
transport, and when set up it was apparently going to be
quite an up-to-date and effective plant consisting of a
hydraulic press, shelling and cleaning machines, &c.,
equal to the whole process of extracting ground-nut oil.
He declared himself certain of making a big success of
it, and showed us some samples, which he maintained
were really superior to olive oil. We had already learnt
that the oil is sold as ground-nut oil in Germany, where
their Colonies still have the fascination of a new toy, and
commands a ready sale ; while in Great Britain, where

TABORA TO MWANZA

79

colonial produce is still regarded with some suspicion, it
has to be labelled "Olive Oil" or used in the adultera-
tion of it to find a market. The area of his land grant
seemed to be limited solely by his requirements, and he
also told me that he was obtaining a concession over a
valuable natural salt deposit that was brought down by
the rains from som.e hills to the east. He showed us
two lumps of what seemed to be simply pure white
salt — picked up, he said, haphazard by the natives. If
it was true, as he said, that a load which cost him 4
rupees, including transport, fetched 10 rupees in Tabora,
and that he could sell as much as 200 loads in a day,
it was a profitable proposition. In the matter of a
handful of mineral specimens, including amethyst, garnet,
copper and gold, which had come from the hills to the
west, although this locality is officially marked in the maps
as highly mineralised, and though our host had spent
some years prospecting, he was a little less convincing.
Dinner, which was washed down with German champagne
and vanilla-flavoured Buchanan as a liqueur, afforded us a
most entertaining symposium. Herr Wattjen, the partner,
proved not only to have a quite useful acquaintance with
the English language, but to be a keen and intelligent
student of British and German political problems. Our
host's most notable contribution was a statement that
the Duke of Cumberland had given up his claim to the
English throne in favour of Queen Victoria, preferring
that of Hanover, to which he adhered quite as obstinately
as to another to the effect that there was no such person
as Herr Siegel, Distrikts Kommissar, at Tabora. Both
were in agreement in their criticisms of the new civil
administration introduced by Herr Dernburg, which, they
said, was " far worser " than the old military regime.
Their illustration was a naive disclosure of biassed in-
dividualism. Formerly, they said, if a native was lacking
in what any kind of white man considered the proper
respect due to him, the white man had but to report it,
and the offender was severely punished. Nowadays the
plaintiff had to produce evidence. Comment is superfluous.

8o THROUGH THE HEART OF AFRICA

We bade our hosts farewell on retiring at 9.15, and
pulled out before dawn, not a little impressed by the
warm and genial welcome that we had enjoyed at
Salabwe. With lager beer at about eighteenpence a
bottle and champagne at goodness knows what, the ex-
tension of this unstinted hospitality to two Britishers
travelling through German territory by a couple of settlers
who still had their way to make was a thing to remember.

On our next day's stage of 21 miles along a trek that
was chiefly like frozen plough and quite unrideable, we
saw a good deal of game, including topi, reedbuck, and
roan, besides a troop of huge baboons, in chasing which
the dogs nearly succeeded in losing themselves in the
bush. This was the third time we had come across these
beasts, right on our road, since leaving Tabora. We
bagged none, but saw them fairly close, and noticed that
they were darker in colour and rather shorter in the
body, though no shorter in the leg, than those of North-
Eastern Rhodesia, In that country they are not un-
commonly mistaken for lions at a first glimpse of them
stalking through thick bush, and one of our gun-bearers
on this occasion fell into the same error. The biggest of
them stand every bit as high, and their colour is often
almost identical. They showed very little fear of the
dogs, and once routed them in hasty retreat to the road
by merely turning back to have a closer look at what
was chasing them. We also saw some wild ostriches
here, and after careful stalking succeeded in getting to
within 70 yards and obtaining some good photographs
of them.

We killed a couple of topi for the sake of the meat, but
the carriers, who would have got nearly all of it, were suf-
fering from one of those occasional fits of " previousness "
that so often attack the African, and consequently nearly
all of them had to do without. It was only two or three
miles from camp that the game had been shot, so those of
them that were not fetching firewood were sent back to
carry in the meat. On their return we found to our
disgust that not only had they ignored our instructions to

TABORA TO MWANZA

8i

bring in one of the heads intact, for the sake of the head
skin, and had flayed nearly every inch of both of them to
make themselves sandals, but had also taken the liberty of
helping themselves to a tasty bit, and of cooking and
eating it before they brought the meat in. Needless to
say, the tasty bits were all they got. Their embryo
sandals were cremated, and the spare meat was given to
the Jumbe, or local headman, whose courtesy and pains
to make us comfortable in a spot where there was hardly
enough water to go round, and firewood was only visible
on the horizon, deserved some special recognition.

Twenty-eight miles short of Mwanza in the great
plains, that but for the close-cropped grass and patches of
cultivation in place of the scrub reminded one vividly of
the Karoo, we encountered some entirely novel methods of
husbandry. In between the tiny villages, whose euphorbia
hedges were the only trees in sight, the smooth level
ground, like patches of English common, was dotted with
groups of natives threshing, winnowing, and stacking their
corn. The threshing was effected by means of a kind
of flail, or carpet-beater, with a handle, lo to 12 feet
long, finished with a padded palm, or in some cases a
three-pronged fork. The operators, who were male,
worked quite naked (until the approach of the cam.era),
and the tedious effort of wielding the clumsy implement
suggested a considerable waste of labour, though it was
undoubtedly picturesque. Close by a group of wom.en
were engaged in winnowing. Their method was the
simple one of holding up a basket full of grain at arms'-
length and spilling it slowly to the ground, allowing the
chaff to be carried away by the breeze. They also
worked with as little clothing as possible, being naked
to the waist, with the body, face, and arms well smeared
with white clay, which had the effect, we were told, of
preventing irritation from the chaff. A little farther on
we came across a quantity of the unthreshed sorghum
ready stocked in well-bound bundles, the form and the
neatness of which were as unusual to us as the native
methods of treating it.

F

S2 THROUGH THE HEART OF AFRICA

The heat in the plains was as trying as we had found
it anywhere in the territory, but one good result was that
we did not suffer much inconvenience except in the matter
of cooking and bread-baking from the fact that the only
fuel that could be obtained at our camp was in the form
of pieces of split euphorbia at three for a heller. We were
by this time beginning to wonder whether we should soon
be asked to buy our water, but the natives assured us that
things did not go quite so far as that.

On the following day, the 23rd of September, the
equinox, after a tremendous sprint to the top of a small
rise so as to set our watches right for once as the sun
appeared above the horizon, we caught our first glimpse
of Mwanza gulf, one of the southern arms of the Victoria
Nyanza, some 3000 or 4000 yards in width and extending
some 35 miles in length from the main lake.

Almost directly after leaving Misungwi the rocky
ridges and kopjes had begun to close in, and the open
plains gave place to little valleys and hollows of increasing
beauty and charm.

The road for nearly 25 miles into Mwanza was broad,
banked up, partially metalled and well drained, with an
avenue of mitawa and other trees planted on either side,
that after a few years should form, as they meet over-
head, a complete and welcome shelter from the sun's
rays.

The scenery grew strangely like that of Dartmoor at
times. The glistening gulf on the left with its cliffs, here
green, there gleaming white, and studded with granite
islets — the counterpart of the kopjes on the land — of all
of which we caught ever fresh glimpses through each little
dip and valley that we crossed, gave an added beauty to
a landscape that in itself was fair. It were difficult to
imagine anything more fine than this approach to the
township of Mwanza, and it was quite the best bit of water
scenery we had seen in Africa, and, though lacking the
breadth and immensity of the main lakes, had a charming
picturesqueness of its own.

At times the road wound through weird tangled masses

TABORA TO MWANZA

83

of granite rocks, and from the foot of one of these was
bubbling a clear cold spring for all the world just like an
artificial well. Nearer Mwanza itself it led quite close to
the shore, which was low and thickly clothed with shrubs
and tangled undergrowth, and skirted the edge of a belt
of wide-spreading and shady trees. We reached the
German port at about 9 a.m. on September 25th.

During the last two days, besides overtaking some hun-
dreds of natives going in for loads, we had met a constant
stream of carriers on their way into the interior with bales
and cases of goods that had come from Mombasa by the
Uganda railway and the lake route ; the last day we
must have met between 1500 and 2000 — the climax to
the continuous demonstration of the fallacy of the German
Official view.

VII

MWANZA AND THE ADMINISTRATION OF
GERMAN EAST AFRICA

Description of Mwanza — Perambulations and perplexities — Protracted
negotiations with the Customs department — General impressions of
German East Africa — The country, natives, markets and small
coinage, climate — An examination of the old regime and the new.

The township of Mwanza, situated at the end of a narrow

level valley debouching on a semicircular bay near the

head of the Mwanza gulf, has the makings of quite a

beautiful little place.

Some of its best buildings are scattered along or near

the foreshore, and some, e.g. the fort and residence of the

Commandant, are perched in the hills overlooking the bay

from the north-east. Near the centre of the town is a

fine open square with a magnificent old tree in the centre

of it, the Boma, gaol and office buildings on the lake side

and the native market on another. The latter is in the

same style as those at Tabora, but larger and consisting

of a single building. The Boma fort and most of the

residences are built in the same substantial granite as we

had seen at Tabora, with red iron roofs. To the left of

the square, and separated from it by a few scattered

buildings, is a broad common bounded on its further side

by a huge outcrop of granite rocks which merge in an

irregular ridge, hiding from view the waters of the gulf

arm before it turns the corner into the bay. In the

middle of this was a large square building in process of

construction, which we learnt later was the beginning of

the wireless telegraphy station for communication with

Bukoba. Running south-east from the market square

is a broad street with smaller ones branching from it,

forming the Indian and native quarter ; for Mwanza has

84

\'IE\V l-KOM OUK CAMr Al MWA.N/.A.

MWANZA— GERMAN EAST AFRICA 85

quite a considerable Indian and Arab trading popu-
lation.

In the town itself there are not many trees, but the
rocky hills on either side, especially to the east, begin
to be well covered, and in some places the lake shore
shows refreshing signs of the energy and foresight of the
early planter. East of the Boma the water's edge is
fringed for some little distance by a huge clump of palms,
the streets are mostly provided with rapidly growing
avenues of nntawa, while the gardens in front of one house,
at the extreme west corner of the town, are shaded by a
grove of magnificent old mangoes, guavas, limes, bananas,
mitawa, and many another tropical tree, stretching right
down to the lake shore, that suggested an older occupa-
tion than the rest of the town. To the left as one looks
out towards the lake the foreground is dotted with a
huge granite boulder or two rising out of . the water, some
grotesquely balanced on the top of their fellows, the
remains of the rocky ridge that once doubtless stretched
right across the bay.

After a few minutes' rest under the shade of the market-
square tree, we got the sentry at the Boma gates to show
us the Offices of the " Distrikts Kommissar," which we
found were just round a corner and on the other side of
the same building. Speaking English without much diffi-
culty he gave us a pleasant and cordial welcome, and
after a short conversation, yet long enough to show us
that he was another example of the new type of official
who takes an interest and a pleasure in his work amongst
the natives, pointed out the direction of the wharf, at
which he told us we could settle all our Customs and
steamer transport business. He then sent a boy along
to show us the best place to camp, which he said we
could do wherever we liked. After finding the spot,
which was well out of the town just short of the gardens
mentioned above (in the shady arbour formed by two
or three magnificent trees), right on the edge of the lake
but screened from it and the breeze by a mass of rocks
with a simple but rather impressive memorial to Bismarck

86 THROUGH THE HEART OF AFRICA

at their base, and which was, in fact, about as perfect a
spot for a camp as could be imagined, we proceeded to
look for the steamer and Customs Offices, With the
steamer people we wanted to fix up fares and freight, and
with the Customs to obtain the refund of import duty paid
at Bismarckburg on the kit we were taking with us.
This, we knew, wanted a little engineering, though to
save expense we did not intend taking more with us than
we were obliged. A pier jutting out into the lake seemed
to indicate the spot, so, though it was not exactly where
the Distrikts Kommissar had pointed, thither we wended,
only to find, however, a busy yard, backed by a large
shed which was thinly populated by Indian clerks. As
this did not look promising, we decided to try the direction
indicated to us at the Boma, and passing what appeared
to be the Post Office, though disguised under a totally
different title to the same institution at Tabora, we worked
round to the other side of the Boma block. By this time
the sentry was beginning to know us, but success still
eluded our efforts : the way simply led past a shop, which
appeared to be a local Lockhart's, to the lake-side, where,
under the shade of the palms which clothed it, extensive
laundry operations were in progress. Undaunted, we de-
cided to try the Post Office in the hope that it was not
one, but were disappointed : it was. The Postmaster,
however, spoke a little English, and on hearing our quest
directed us to the Steamer Offices — the other end of the
town. We should find it, he said, after passing the
engine-house, and should see the name " D.O.A. Nyanza
—something or other — Gesellschaft " over the door. The
scattered nature of Mwanza town may appear to have
pleased us at first from an artistic point of view and at a
distance, and we are not prepared to say that it did not,
but with a house-to-house visiting job such as we seemed
to have got in hand by this time picturesqueness and
spaciousness were rapidly losing their charm, and we
were beginning to wonder why the devil they couldn't
have either grouped all their buildings round the square,
and put them back to back in a nice solid block like a

A MEMORIAL TO BiSMARCK NP:AR OUR CAMP.

MWANZA— GERMAN EAST AFRICA 87

respectable British slum. However, we had business that
nobody whom we had met was painfully anxious to do
for us, so we girded up our loins, wiped several beads of
perspiration from our brows, and made a start.

After walking eastwards along a regular street for
something over a mile, we seemed really to have got there.
The polysyllabic signboard was there, so was the engine-
house. Turning in and passing the latter, which seemed
to contain an up-to-date plant for cleaning rice, which
natives were sorting on bucksails in the yard outside, we
walked about a furlong up a broad path to an office.
Making ourselves understood without very much difficulty
by a stout and preoccupied gentleman in the invariable
white duck, who first began by mystifying us with facts
or fancy anent some German boats of whose existence
we had never heard (possibly freight barges or Arab
dhows) and seemed in a deuce of a hurry to say good-bye
when he had gathered what we wanted, we learnt that
we had once more come to entirely the wrong place.

With somewhat impaired tempers, and a feeling that
if we met an Englishman he would have the time of his
life in Mwanza, we turned sadly away. At quite a short
distance on the way back we came on a gateway with a
brass plate bearing the legend " Wm. O'Swald & Co.,"
and thinking that here we might be going to find the
animal we longed for, we walked another furlong up
another path and besieged another office at the top of it.

There was no Englishman, but there was a very nice
little man who spoke very fair English, grasped the
situation with a lucidity that we had feared was in some
way impossible in the Mwanza climate, and told us every-
thing we wanted to know. The steamer came in on
Monday, he said, and left again in a day or two. The
office was next to the Post Office and the Boma ; it con-
tained a Goanese clerk who spoke English, but if we
could not excavate it, Hansing & Co., who were the last
house at the other end of the town, and acted as the
Uganda Railway Agents, would be able to give us any
information we required.

88 THROUGH THE HEART OF AFRICA

A little encouraged, but wondering what kind of
mental aberration it was that was afflictins: the Post-
master, we started off again. This time, however, we did
know where we were going, for it was the very shed into
which we had looked some hours before, but had been
discouraged by the appearance of doubtless that very
Goanese clerk. However, our perplexities were shortly
ended. Without further delay we explained our troubles
to the said pundit, and his grasp of the situation and his
excellent English so charmed us, that, in spite of his
ingenuous attempt to make us believe that the next
steamer left on October lo — whereas it was really due
on the 26th September, and would leave on the 28th —
we felt warmed towards him and his race in general.
Steamer fares, &c., would be fixed up on board the vessel
when she had arrived, and we arranged to return at 4 P.M.
to fix up the Customs business. Our friendly babu was
a Uganda Railway employe, but he introduced us to a col-
league in the Customs Department, an equally inoffensive
specimen with an equally efficient knowledge of our
tongue. As the German in charge was quite ignorant of
it, the existence of these clerks was decidedly cheering.

These exhausting perambulations satisfactorily ended,
it occurred to us that an airy little caravanserai which we
had passed as we entered the Boma square, and on the
verandah of which we had seen a genial German airing
himself, might possibly be Hansing's, or, if it were not,
that it had certainly suggested lager beer and such-like
refreshment which the situation distinctly indicated.

He was not Hansing, but he was charmed to serve
and join us in the matter of a Munchner or two, and for
ten minutes we conversed with him in a mixture of
English and Ki-Swahili — his knowledge of the former
being about equal to our acquaintance with the latter.

After purchasing some tinned fruits, hors d'oeuvres,
pickled cucumbers, polony sausages and Dimitrino
cigarettes from his spotless and well-ordered store, we
proceeded to Hansing's to see if they would change our
German money into British. We found the firm without

MWANZA— GERMAN EAST AFRICA 89

difficulty, hidden in the gardens referred to above, just
beyond our camp, which was a surprise, as we had thought
we were pitched beyond the Hmits of the township. They
could not do any exchange for us, being at the time out
of English rupees, but no less than two of the firm spoke
excellent English and showed a refreshing willingness to
oblige and serve us.

After lunch and a rest in camp we reverted to the
Customs Office, taking with us the trophies that we wished
to forward to England, and on which there was export
duty to pay, hoping to get the whole business through
before closing-time. But it was not to be. The airy
denial given us at Bismarckburg that any details would
be required in order to secure our refund was as much
beside the mark as was the clerk's assurance in the morn-
ing that nothing was necessary beyond the production of
papers. All the goods we were taking out of the country
had to be produced in order to see, he said, that the
diminution of the same was as we stated, and that their
valuation was correct. It was in vain that we pointed
out that their valuation, correct or otherwise, was quite
immaterial, as, whether we had paid too much or too little,
in either case the valuation was Lieutenant Wach's at
Bismarckburg, and the idea was that we were going to
get it back. Our morning's estimate of the babu's in-
telligence and eagerness to oblige was evidently a mis-
taken one. He was quite unable or unwilling to see our
point, and further seemed — unless it was merely lack of
savoir faire — to consider it his duty to place as many
obstacles as the law provided in the way of getting through
our business with facility and despatch.

It was Saturday, and the property we were taking had
to be produced — and produced on Monday on its way to
the steamer ; Tuesday they would be too busy ; they could
not send any one to our camp to do the inspection, and
the fact that we should consequently have to spend Monday
night in the streets with neither tents nor beds left them
quite unmoved. The occasional visit of a white clerk or two
to the consultation did nothing to relieve the situation.

go THROUGH THE HEART OF AFRICA

During an armistice in the matter of deposit refunds,
we turned to the subject of the export of horns and skins ;
this, at any rate, must be a simple matter. We had again,
however, underrated the ingenuity of the department.
We had intended to pay the export duty on the trophies,
take them back to our camp, and there pack them up for
despatch to Europe ; but no, we must leave them there
once they had been checked ; we could not take them
out again. But, the babu said, they could be packed up
for us there. Distrust, however, was growing mutual and
we didn't jump at it, especially as he seemed unable to
explain how, when, where, why, by whom or what for
the packing would be done.

Eventually both of us having all but reached the limit
of our patience and chafing not a little at the absence of
even a chair — making it necessary to risk our trousers on
the top of packing-cases bristling with nails and scrap
iron — after the group had been joined by a second German
who spoke a little English, and by yet another Goanese
who spoke German too, after the German had helped the
situation by scattering our horns with his dainty foot into
some special pattern of his own, and telling us that a reed-
buck was something else and that a jackal did not exist,
after these and others had come and gone with a look
and a shrug some three or four separate times before
they had even succeeded in getting a list of our trophies
on to paper, we made the proposal that we be allowed to
take the trophies away and pack them, after which they
could unpack them again if they suspected us of smug-
gling, or not as they pleased, and that the rest of our
exports should come through on Monday provided that
we were able to go on board the steamer that day, a
compromise which was actually accepted, with our opinion
of the Customs department now thoroughly rearranged,
and with a hint we could not resist giving to our friend
the railway clerk that if his confreres knew what really
respectable people we were after all they might be less
disposed to suspect our bond-fides and to tangle us up
with red tape, we left the scene of our struggles. We

MWANZA— GERMAN EAST AFRICA

91

then succeeded in getting some notes changed into rupees
at Messrs. Hansing, though it was really past closing-
time, and proceeded to pay off our carriers. None made
any attempt to move of¥ that day, nor appeared in the
least put out at having been paid too late to enable them
to do so. In fact, they accepted it, as they really had
accepted everything all the way, with perfect good nature.

Sunday was a day of comparative inaction, being
devoted chiefly to rest, to the packing of our heads and
skins, and a short stroll in the evening to see what we
could make of the wireless telegraphy construction, which
was not much.

On Monday morning we took our packages for Europe
to Hansings in the hope of getting them off our hands,
but found that we were bound to take them to the Customs
in person. Bracing ourselves for a further effort, we
went along, but this time, in spite of their warning that
Tuesday would be impossible, they said, " Come to-
morrow ; plenty of time to-morrow. Declaration has to
be made out, and it's nearly closing-time." Analysis of
our feelings was becoming too complicated a process by
this time, and we returned to camp feeling almost philo-
sophical. At 5 P.M. the arrival of the steamer put rather
a different complexion on things, and, though in conse-
quence of the postponement of clearing operations, her
arrival before Tuesday was not now a matter of vital
importance, it cheered us considerably to pay her a visit
and make the acquaintance of her officers, who gave us
permission to come aboard the following day.

After our last night on German East Africa soil we were
up early, but the Customs department were even earlier,
for while we were dressing it sent a message to say it was
ready for us, and at about ten o'clock we had packed our
kit and, with the help of a couple of trolleys from Messrs.
Hansing, managed to convey it to the Customs shed. We
were taking but little with us besides personal clothing,
tents, bedding and camp kit ; the few provisions that were
left over we had, in the absence of purchasers, either
presented to our carriers or thrown into the lake.

92 THROUGH THE HEART OF AFRICA

The Customs department were more than ready for
us — they must have been awaiting us eagerly since dawn ;
they met us with the injunction to come again at three
o'clock. Thoroughly resigned, we consoled ourselves with
lunch on board the s.s. Sibyl, and then prepared to obey.
Whether it was our probably obtrusive attitude of humility
that did it, or whether things had merely arrived at that
stage when after all they do sometimes get done, it was
soon obvious that there was quite a chance of our various
objects being finally achieved. The business of passing
our kit was accomplished with quite unexpected despatch,
our declaration was accepted almost in toto, and scarcely a
package was opened for examination.

The business of calculating what was due to us and
what was due from us took the particular Goanese who
attended to us a most unconscionable time, but, after one
or two false starts, he got through it and we really did get
back quite as much as we had expected.

Export duty on trophies cost us Rs.24.90. Import
duty refund amounted to Rs.137, leaving a balance to us
of Rs.112.10.

There remained the business of conveying our property
on board. This in our elation we had almost overlooked,
but eventually accomplished with the valuable assistance
of yet another clerk, of the impressive name of Vasco de
Gama, an employe of Messrs. Hansing, who placed a gang
of savages at our disposal. With our last load and our
Rhodesian staff safely on board at five o'clock, our anxieties
were at an end. In conclusion it is but fair to say that
this was the only case in which we experienced the slightest
difficulty with any department of the German administra-
tion, that it was unaccompanied by a trace of intentional
incivility or any deliberate attempt to embarrass us with
obstacles or red tape, and that it was probably largely due
to our total ignorance of the German language.

We thought at one time that we should have some
difficulty in exchanging the balance of our German money
for English, but found a convenient solution of the problem
in the acceptance of a cheque from the firm of Alidina

MWANZA— GERMAN EAST AFRICA

Visram on his branch at Entebbe, at a discount of 3 per
cent. This left us, as a matter of fact, with a net gain of loi-
per cent, on the gold we had changed at Bismarckburg.

A residence of but six weeks in a foreign protectorate
does not seem, on the face of it, to provide a very adequate
equipment for critic and historian, but the fact that German
East Africa is a next-door neighbour to us in Northern
Rhodesia, the close similarity of the local conditions to
those with which we have been familiar for some years
and the frank welcome and open discussion that we every-
where enjoyed, encourages us to offer our commentary
without apology or misgiving.

The common impression that we should not find much
to learn from the German administration of East Africa
is founded on a superficial or out-of-date knowledge of
the facts, and recalls a passage in Sir Charles Eliot's work
on the East Africa Protectorate dealing with the German
colony : —

"I would not, however," he says, "have us lay any
flattering unction to our so'ils, and congratulate ourselves,
as we are wont to do, on managing everything better than
all other nations."

Naturally enough we judged the German system by
our own, and in some ways found it wanting : as a nation
we have had far greater experience in ruling tropical
dependencies, and we were quick to notice what we con-
sidered the weak points in the German administration ;
but at the same time we saw much to admire, and the
general verdict must, we think, be one of congratulation to
our neighbours. It should be noted that our experiences
and criticism refer to but little beyond the region actually
visited ; this was one of the poorest stretches in the territory,
and, being so far from the coast, one of the least developed.
Our remarks are probably entirely inapplicable, for instance,
to the country round Kilimanjaro, the plantation area, and
the coast line, and must not be taken to refer to those
parts.

As to the nature of the country through which we passed

94 THROUGH THE HEART OF AFRICA

taken all round there can be no doubt that this section of
the German protectorate is poor. It is difficult to see that
it can ever come to much in itself, though it may prove
useful enough in connection with the whole, and, being
fairly well populated, will afford a source of labour for
the more fertile and promising districts. The whole
country is poorly and most of it badly watered, which is
in itself a great handicap. The neighbourhood of Mwazye,
known as Lyangalile, was the only part that had perennial
streams, and although they were good, they were not very
numerous, and the water in them compares unfavourably
with that of the streams in the Southern Tanganyika
plateau. The rest of the country draws its water-supply
from water-holes, poor in quality and generally deficient in
quantity. The timber supply is poor ; there is a little in
Lyangalile, and a small though good belt of forest near
Kalula's, and we heard of some near Ngaya, though we
did not actually see it. The northern part of the territory
visited is reputed to be highly mineralised. One of the
most noticeable features was the live stock ; the first part,
to and inclusive of Rukwa, was stocked with large numbers
of sheep and goats and a few cattle ; the section from
Rungwa to the neighbourhood of Tabora had practically
none of either ; Tabora has a very large supply of cattle
in its immediate vicinity, and from thence to the plains
round the Mwanza gulf there are enormous herds of cattle
everywhere, but there is no. getting away from the fact that
most of these cattle live in a dense " fly " belt, and that
some at any rate of the fly is infected, so that the prospect
is not very bright.

The natives are of a good type, and the main divisions,
the Fipa stock and the Wanyamwezi, are both of good
physique and quite up to the average in intelligence.

The native chiefs, headmen and population generally
we everywhere found courteous and obliging, and also
contented and happy. The beginning of the semi-
civilised Swahili element not unnaturally jarred a little
upon us, though we recognised how infinitely superior
it was as a civilising and educating influence to the

MWANZA— GERMAN EAST AFRICA 95

" Kitchen Kaffir " element of South Africa that is encroach-
ing on Northern Rhodesia, and nowhere did we meet
anything to resent in its attitude. Scarcely a group of
natives or a batch of carriers would pass without the
greeting of " Yaiiibo, bvoana " or " Yaiitbo, Bwana Mkubim."

We were interested to notice during the last two
days before reaching Mwanza that the villagers seemed
of a distinctly less sophisticated and of a different facial
type, many recalling the Mashukulumbwe type though
without the hair cones and dental disfiguration. Our
carriers gave us no trouble, and though a little slow
to realise their duties in the way of gathering firewood,
&c., and at first inclined to complain that we wanted to
travel by too long stages, we found them willing and
cheerful, and able to do considerably more than the local
estimate of ten miles a day. On the whole we preferred
the southern (Wa-fipa) group, probably because they more
closely resembled those to whom we are accustomed.
We passed through a good many types, which are
largely distinguished from one another by their houses
and village systems and by their food. At first the
ordinary village of the Nyasaland and Northern Rhodesian
type with some 30 to 50 huts, circular in shape, built
with poles and mud-plastered walls and thatched roofs,
with millet as the staple crop. In Rukwa the villages
were of a similar type, but the huts were built of split
wood, and millet was replaced largely by maize. North
of Rukwa the tembo system of building, which we
have described at length in an earlier chapter, was in
vogue, and the people still relied on maize for most of
their food supply. At and after Tabora we came to the
group system of village, each one consisting of a family
in three or four huts, dotted about on the fertile plains,
with the " camp " known by the name of the locality,
and not by that of any particular village. These people
grow kaffir corn (sorghum). It was in this section that
we found the sokoni (more correctly soko) first properly
established. This useful institution is almost a necessity
for carriers in a country where the village group system

96 THROUGH THE HEART OF AFRICA

exists, for a big gang that had to forage amongst isolated
huts scattered over such a large area could not buy food
as it could in a large concentrated village. The village
sokoni is simply a shed at the camp, whither natives
from the surrounding groups of huts come and sit
with food for sale — porridge, grain, flour, beans, ground
nuts, bananas, milk, beer, butter, meat, and, where it
is scarce, firewood. The carriers, who are continually
passing in large numbers, can buy all that they require
at the sokoni. The vendors have small tins (generally
old cigarette tins) and sell at a regular rate of i, 2, or
3 heller per tin (100 heller = i rupee). Flour had been
a bit scarce the year we passed, though it was not half
so dear as it often is in Northern Rhodesia, while ground
nuts and beans were remarkably cheap. Meat was
obtainable almost everywhere at about id. per lb. The
prices are officially fixed at each sokoni ; there is no
haggling, nor is there any difficulty whatever about
feeding the carriers.

This market system, no doubt originally due to Arab
initiation and example, can only be possible amongst
natives whose commercial instincts have reached a certain
stage of development, and this instinct is fostered doubt-
less by the existence of the small copper coinage.

The difficulty experienced, for instance, in Northern
Rhodesia in inducing the individual native either to present
for sale enough food to represent the sum of sixpence or
to accept a copper or two for a smaller quantity is over-
come. No amount of food, beer, snuff, &c., can really be
too small to be worth half a heller, the 200th part of
a rupee, and though it was difficult to convince our
Rhodesian natives of the fact, the price of food at the
sokonis averaged rather less than in Northern Rhodesia,
e.g. I or 2 heller for a handful of ground nuts struck them
as exorbitant, though 50 or 100 handfuls were probably
more than they could usually buy in their own homes
for IS. 4d. Fowls and eggs, though fairly plentiful off
the main route, were very scarce along the main roads.
Near and at Tabora and Mwanza eggs can be occasionally

MWANZA— GERMAN EAST AFRICA 97

bought from Indian hawkers and natives at two or three
hellers apiece. Milk was very often obtainable, at the
reasonable price of about a pint and a half for six or seven
hellers, but the raw native, unless specially warned, is liable
to bring that of the day before, thinking it as good as fresh.
Butter is sold at many of the markets, but is, as a rule^
uneatable, being made mostly as an ingredient of soap or
for toilet purposes.

The climate of the highlands of German East Africa,
certainly as far north as Tabora, presented but little differ-
ence from that prevailing in the greater part of North-
eastern Rhodesia. The Rukwa Valley may be compared
to that of the Luangwa, both in temperature and, to a
certain extent, in its vegetation, though the heat was not
quite so trying.

From Tabora to Mwanza it grew perceptibly warmer,
and we found it quite worth while, especially for treks of
twenty miles or thereabouts, to start before daybreak.
The open nature of the country and masses of rock pro-
bably have the effect of accentuating the heat.

The dryness doubtless accounts for the absence of
mosquitoes, of which we noticed barely half a dozen from
end to end of the whole territory, and, in fact, with the
exception of a plague of tiny flies at two of our camps, and
of course the tsetse fly that infested a large part of our
route, the ordinary pests were almost non-existent.

Our natives suffered very little from sickness, while
we ourselves enjoyed perfect health until we reached
Mwanza, where our slight indisposition was probably merely
due to the reaction after so many days' hard travelling.

On the whole it was not a good shooting country.
The Rukwa Plains and the Kavu River were good, though
the variety of species was limited. The Ugalla River had
both quality and variety, but it is a comparatively small
and secluded area, and the rest was poor. We saw but
few traces of elephant, none of buffalo or rhino, a lot of
giraffe spoor, a few ostriches, eland and sable, a good many
waterbuck, hartebeeste, roan, mpala, reedbuck, andwarthog,
and huge herds of topi.

G

98 THROUGH THE HEART OF AFRICA

With regard to the administration of the country, it
must be understood that it is still in a state of transition,
being partly military and partly civil, the former of which
is gradually disappearing. At Bismarckburg the military
regime is still in force, and we were not favourably im-
pressed by it. From what we learnt from the officer in
charge, as well as from what we gathered from other
residents and from personal observation, it is obvious that
the system, of some of the features of which we have
already given an account in our second chapter, is a
bad one.

Those really in power are the native police, the
wall or Government headman, and the tribal chiefs. As
no native can appeal to the white man except through
the wall, who only takes up a plaintiff's case when it suits
him, and is always open to bribery, the disadvantages of
the system are too obvious to insist upon. The collection
of the poll-tax (4 rupees per annum) is left to the chief,
who receives 5 per cent, of the amount collected. No
census is taken, and the tax is assessed very roughly per
village, so that the chief is able to make up the total with-
out calling upon his friends, exacting any shortage from
those who are outside his circle of intimates. Needless to
say, the amount is considerably smaller than it would be
if every one were censused and obliged to pay. If the sum
produced falls below the estimate, police are sent to fetch
in the people and their flocks, and once again it is not the
chief nor his friends that suffer. He also exacts in some
parts very high tribute in cash, clothes, labour, live-stock,
and food from his people, who thus pay a double tax, as
well as heavy toll on natives passing through his territory,
especially on labourers returning from the railway work
and from the plantations. An aggrieved party has the
usual difficulty in bringing a complaint to the proper
quarter, as the ivali through whom it must go is easily
squared. The liberty allowed to the native police also
often amounts to licence, and as a wali never dreams of
reporting any policeman, it remains unchecked. If there
were a regular system of district travelling many of these

MWANZA— GERMAN EAST AFRICA 99

abuses would be bound to come to light, but, as noted
elsewhere, the military officer very rarely travels, and,
when he does, he has a large escort of military or police.
He does not go into the villages and investigate things
for himself, nor try to check cases of irregularities in the
collection of the poll-tax ; as it is all left in the hands of
the chiefs, walis, or headmen, he only hears what the
local wait chooses to tell him, and knows little or nothing
of what is going on.

After this example of a military province the civil
government which we found established at Tabora, the
direct result of Herr Dernburg's visit, and only a year old,
was a pleasant surprise. Prior to the change all except
one of the officers were military men. Now, besides two
officers and two sergeants in charge of 200 soldiers and
police, there is an entirely separate civil administration.
It consists of two or three holding magisterial rank with
European clerks, a postmaster with one assistant, and the
District Commissioner.

With the first department we had little to do, but it
appeared to be in the hands of capable men doing their
work in an effective and unostentatious manner, and fond
of their life and of travelling.

The postmaster was civility itself, and transacted our
postal telegraphic business expeditiously and without fuss.

The District Commissioner's department, though we
have already touched upon it, deserves to be specially
dealt with as presenting such a complete contrast to the
old miHtary system of administration.

It consists of the District Commissioner himself, with
one European and one native clerk. His work is purely
native, and, as he has a population of over 200,000 to
deal with, it is obvious that his office is at present very
much understaffed. In spite of the unwieldy size of his
district, he had studied the customs and the languages
of his people, takes an interest in them, and knows them
well. When travelling he takes but two police with him,
one to carry his rifle, the other to " boss up " his loads.
His method of dealing direct with the natives, and their

loo THROUGH THE HEART OF AFRICA

opportunities of free access to him, prevent the abuses
that must arise in the system outHned earher in this
chapter. He had a genial but quiet and dignified way
with the natives, which much impressed us. When
meeting a group of them in the streets of Tabora he
would exchange a friendly greeting with them in their
own language — not in Ki-Swahili — and receive a courteous
greeting in reply. A military officer, had we asked him
some question about the local tribes, would probably
have answered "Oh ! they are just Sheuzis .'" and surprise
would have been shown at our evincing any interest in
them ; whereas the District Commissioner knew, as soon as
he saw them, to which tribe they belonged, and spoke
to them as their chief and their friend. Being, as we had
opportunities of learning, just, firm, and keen on his work,
it follows that he is liked and respected by those over
whom he rules ; but almost singlehanded as he is, with a
population of nearly a quarter of a million, he is naturally
so overworked that he never has time to get to the ends
of his district. This inadequate staffing will doubtless be
remedied before the civil administration is much older.
As it is, he is known to the natives as the Shan]-i Bwaiia,
because so much of his time is taken up at Tabora in the
hearing of the native cases.

The Tabora regime is not, probably, unique. The
civil system has already been established elsewhere. At
Mwanza, for instance, though we had not the same
opportunities for judging, it would appear that the
Germans are working there on the same sound lines,
and carrying on an efficient administration in a manner
that is at the same time fair to the natives and good for
the country.

A feature which probably first impresses most Eng-
lishmen in German territory, just as its reverse impresses
the German visitor to British African protectorates, is the
inevitable fort, seen at every Government station, and
which is conspicuous by its absence in places like Zomba,
Livingstone, Fort Jameson, Entebbe and Nairobi, to say
nothing of the smaller and more isolated stations.

MWANZA— GERMAN EAST AFRICA loi

This, and the practice of the majority of German
officials of never travelling without a big armed escort, are
proofs of their fear of native rebellion, to show which is
bad for their prestige.

The most outstanding feature of the German adminis-
tration is without doubt the thorough way in which they
investigate and experiment on the possibilities of the
territory. The way in which they have fostered and
organised trade up country deserves every praise. The
roads that have been made are excellent, and the manner
in which they are pushing on railway construction calls
for a good deal of admiration. Thoroughly and system-
atically conducted, it presents a rather marked contrast
to the usual haphazard British methods. The somewhat
rigid systems and unbreakable rules in force at their
stations may strike an Englishman as a trifle pointless,
but nevertheless in an administration of a country disci-
pline and system are of the greatest importance, and pro-
bably some mean between the German rigidity and our
own casual elasticity would produce the best results.
We should study each other's methods, and choose which
can be adopted with profit and which discarded. The
Germans are openly and admittedly learning from us
with our greater colonial experience. We, on the other
hand, need not think that we have nothing to learn from
them.

Taken all round the country was rather poorer, and
the administration control over and relations with the
natives more satisfactory, than we had anticipated. There
is room for a good deal of improvement yet, as there is in
all our own dependencies, but on the whole, considering
how new colonial work is to the German nation, they
have every reason to be proud of what they are doing
in their East African Protectorate. When the forts are
less prominent,^ and more officials mix freely with the
natives they govern, get to know them and understand

' " et errat longe, mea quidem sententia,

Qui imperium credat esse gravius, aut stabilius,
Vi quod fit, quam illud, quod amicitia adjungitur."

— Terence, AdelpM, i. 40.

102 THROUGH THE HEART OF AFRICA

them, their administration should prove a real success,
but to achieve this they must abolish the military rule,
take away from military officers only temporarily in the
country and lacking all interests in it, all povirers of
governance, and leave it in the hands of men who like
the country and intend to devote their lives to a colonial
career.

We cannot close this chapter without expressing a
hope that none of the officials of German East Africa will
take offence, should they read these pages, at any of our
comments and criticisms. Everywhere we received no-
thing but kindness at their hands, coupled with all the
help that they could give us, and to them we owe much
of the success and enjoyment of our journey through
their territory.

VIII

THE VICTORIA NYANZA AND THE
UGANDA RAILWAY

The S.S. Sybil — Our fellow-passengers — Bukoba — Baganda canoes —
Bukakata — Entebbe — The raising of the game licence — Definite
choice of itinerary — An impression of the beauties of Entebbe —
The police sports — Kind reception and hospitahty — The ill-fated
bicycle — The Ripon Falls — Meeting with Dr. Milne — Port Florence
— Scenery on the railway.

The S.S. Sybil, which was our home for the next eight
days, is the smaller of the passenger boats, which with one
large cargo boat form the fleet, belonging to the Uganda
Railway, that plies upon Lake Victoria Nyanza. The
Sybil, her sister ship the Winifred, and the cargo boat
Nyanza (about 800 tons), travel round the lake at fort-
nightly intervals, starting from Kisumu (or Port Florence),
the head of the railway, and occupying about ten days
in the journey. The Sybil and Winifred take it in turns
to start in the southerly and westerly directions. The
Nyanza travels round as required. All these call at all
the German and British ports on the way. The Clement
Hill leaves Kisumu in connection with the mail train, and
travels direct to Entebbe, calling also on its return at
the two northern ports of Kampala and Jinja,

The Sybil, like the rest of the fleet, is a smart, well-
built, and well-appointed boat, just like an ocean liner
en miniature, and fitted with every comfort and con-
venience for tropical travelling. She is run by a couple
of white officers (Capt. TurnbuU and his " chief," Mr.
Vereker) and three European engineers, with a trained
crew of British East African natives. We had been rather
alarmed to learn from Messrs. Hansing before her arrival

that every berth had been already booked, and that the whole

103

104 THROUGH THE HEART OF AFRICA

ship was occupied by a party of professors and students,
some seventeen in number, from German universities, who
had arrived from Mombasa by the Uganda Railway and
were doing a tour round the lake. However, the skipper
made no objection to our proposal to camp on the deck,
and comforted us by saying that there would be plenty
of food, though he didn't know when we should get it.

Our fellow-passengers, a few of whom spoke English,
were most amiable and interesting people, who were evi-
dently determined to make the most of their brief visit to
Africa. Some were entomologists, some botanists, some
biologists, most of them photographers, and all keen ob-
servers of everything there was to be seen. Every visit to
a port of call was made the opportunity for a collection of
such specimens of the flora and fauna and local curios as
the neighbourhood provided. At Mwanza these comprised
two large basketfuls of crocodile's eggs, a bleached skull
of the same reptile, armfuls of papyrus and other botanical
treasures, and a fine bag of rock rabbits. The blowing
of the first-named provided some of the party with an
innocent occupation for the next few days, the pressing
and preservation of the second kept others of them busy
till Bukoba, while the energy of the sportsman responsible
for the last was more than repaid by the appearance, on
our first day out, of broiled hyrax upon the carte du jour.
They had not yet learnt by experience that a conventional
khaki kit, with gaiters, puttees, or top boots, is neither the
most suitable nor the most comfortable garb for a pleasure
trip on a lake steamer in the tropics, and we thought that
they must have wished at times that they had adopted the
ordinary type of clothing suited for European summer
wear.

We had been allotted about half the promenade deck
on the port side, and with our camp beds up against the
engine room hatch, and our baggage stocked round us we
felt no regret at being crowded out of the cabins. On
waking after our first beautifully cool and refreshing night,
we heartily congratulated ourselves on the opportunity of
sleeping in the open air. Before sailing, two more " deck

Red, gkeen-edged koads.

VICTORIA NYANZA— UGANDA RAILWAY 105

passengers" had joined the ship, and we left Mwanza
numbering twenty-two. Anchor was weighed at a Uttle
after two o'clock on Wednesday afternoon, and steaming
about nine knots we headed for Bukoba, the next German
port on the west shore of the lake. Owing to a mis-
adventure that had recently befallen another of the boats,
they had given up travelling by night, and, five hours later,
without altogether losing sight of land, we anchored in
about thirty-two fathoms of water and in a perfect calm.

A very fine gramophone, the property of one of the
passengers, afforded us a pleasant entertainment for an
hour or two after dinner.

The ship started again at four o'clock next morning,
and though we managed to sleep again after being wakened
by the engines, we were eventually obliged to get out of
bed a trifle earlier than we had had any intention of doing
by the arrival of a deck-swabbing gang.

The glorious sunrise, however, which we were in
consequence able to witness, went a long way towards
compensating us for our broken slumbers.

After about six hours' steaming, sometimes completely
out of sight of land, sometimes passing groups of extra-
ordinarily green and fertile islands, we reached Bukoba.
This, the last station before reaching the Uganda frontier,
lies for the most part along the shore of a small semi-
circular bay perhaps three miles long. From the lake
side it is distinctly picturesque, backed by clif?s of white
rock picked out with vivid green that gave the landscape
quite an English touch. The direction of the strata in the
face of the cliffs had a curiously terracing effect in places.
The more gradual slopes were clothed with rich vegetation,
and with fine trees occasionally rising from between bare
boulders. The grass was as green as in an English
meadow, the consequence of a rainfall much more con-
stant than in the southern parts of the territory.

We went ashore in the afternoon in the captain's gig,
and on landing we found the streets and lower slopes
thickly planted with avenues and copses of eucalyptus,
cotton trees, and other tropical timber, all grown to a fine

io6 THROUGH THE HEART OF AFRICA

maturity. What surprised us as much as anything was the
short, thick, green grass which, right down to the water's
edge, confirmed the impression formed from a distance.
Walking through one of the avenues we struck inland,
passed through some fertile native and European gardens
(where we came across a damsel wearing a good example
of the short grass skirt which is thefashion among the Baziba
natives of this locality), over a broad and full stream the
existence of which we had not suspected, then by a road
skirting the native village, where, in the elaborate compound
of the chief's hut (locally known as the " Sultan's palace "),
we heard and saw a somewhat advanced type of native band
consisting largely of cow-horns, which was suggestive of a
colossal hurdy-gurdy running " amok " ; and so round and
back through the market place to the wireless telegraphy
station on the beach, which we found in a much more ad-
vanced state of construction than that at Mwanza. Then
back along the front to the wharf, passing the " boma "
square, at the top of which the Commandant was en-
tertaining the German travellers, and the fort, which was
less aggressively and more roughly and rustically built than
any we had seen. After taking a few photographs in the
waning light, we returned to the ship, passing, by the way,
some exceptionally fine examples of the Baganda canoes,
which are built of strips of bark sewn together and fur-
nished with a false prow for breaking the force of the
waves.

Our next stop was across the Uganda frontier, at
Bukakata, formerly a Government station. This had been
abandoned owing to the presence of Sleeping Sickness
and Glossina palpalis, and a new post established twenty
miles inland. The site is now only marked by a few
storage sheds and a small landing-pier, but the place is
still retained as a port for the embarkation of goods from
the interior. We took on a quantity of cotton ^ for trans-
mission to Kampala, where it was to be ginned, besides a

1 This cotton was entirely native grown, the seed (Egyptian) having been
imported and distributed gratis by the Uganda Government, when under the
governorship of Mr. (now Sir) Hesketh Bell.

VICTORIA NYANZA— UGANDA RAILWAY 107

large number of bales of hides and skins. A considerable
amount of ground nuts, rice, and hides had been taken on
at Mwanza and Bukoba, and at first it looked as if the
latter part of the Bukakata cargo would have to be left
behind. Our camping space was a good deal restricted in
consequence, but we gathered that we were rather fortu-
nate to have any left at all, as on some of her voyages
the Sybil at this point had her decks piled up to the
awnings.

Anchoring once more on the way, we eventually
reached Entebbe in the cool of the early hours of Satur-
day, October i, after an exciting race with the s.s. Nyanza,
arriving from the opposite direction, for the best berth
alongside the pier.

Entebbe, the seat ^ of the Government of the Uganda
Protectorate, is charmingly situated on a small promontory
in the north-west corner of the lake, some twenty miles
west of Mengo or Kampala, the ancient capital of the
Baganda kings, and now the residence of Daudi, the youth-
ful holder of the title.

Seen first from one side and then the other as we
rounded the point of the headland on which it stands, it
struck us as one of the most beautiful places we had seen.

We obtained some glorious views from the deck of the
steamer of its houses, half hidden in park-like scenery,
mingling all the colour of its tropical vegetation with the
bright refreshing green of its lawns and avenues ; the warm
red of its roofs and of its winding roads in complete
harmony with the colour scheme, giving promise of rare
beauty, which on a closer view was more than justified.
We went on shore at nine o'clock, and chartering a con-
venient rickshaw drove up to the town, which lies half a
mile or so from the pier, calling first at the post-office to
get our mails, which had been accumulating there for three
months. Having secured our letters, and having arranged
for the transfer of the bulkier articles to the steamer, we
proceeded to the Government Offices to call upon the

1 This is literally the meaning of the word Entebbe (or Ntebe), which is the
Luganda for seat or chair.

io8 THROUGH THE HEART OF AFRICA

Acting Chief Secretary, Mr. Alison Russell, whom one of
us could claim as a school-fellow, and who was expecting us.

Up to this point we had been undecided as to the
further stages of our itinerary. The news that we had
received at Mwanza of the increase of the ;^5o sports-
man's licence by an additional ^^30 for permission to
shoot two elephants (;^io for the f^rst, £20 for the second,
the latter sum being recoverable in case of only one ele-
phant being killed) had made us consider whether we
would modify our original idea of going right through
to Egypt via Gondokoro, and proceed instead by the
Uganda Railway to Mombasa. It was with the greatest
reluctance that we had considered the possible necessity
of abandoning the north trip, and it was with considerable
relief that we found, after talking with Mr. Russell, Mr.
A. C. Knollys his assistant, and Colonel Wyndham the
Governor's A.D.C., that we had, while still unconscious
of having made up our minds, committed ourselves to
going through. We had been looking forward to the
elephant-hunting as one of the attractions of a trip
through Uganda, but it was hardly going to be worth
while taking out two licences at the exorbitant sum of
^80 apiece, unless there was a fair prospect of securing
exceptionally big tuskers. It was naturally at Entebbe
that we made our first inquiries, and when we learnt not
only that we might expect, with luck, to get perhaps an
average of two eighty-pounders each, but also that, if we
wished to give ourselves the best chance, we should try
in the northern parts, on reaching which we should
already be well on our way to Gondokoro, we came to the
conclusion that, after all, there was no reason why we
should depart from our original plans. We were soon
engaged in fixing up details. This was a comparatively
easy business, helped, as we were, by every official with
whom we came in contact.

A few days would, of course, be required to make
arrangements for the trip through Uganda, and we
decided to employ the interval in seeing as much as we
could of the East African Protectorate. We each of us

VICTORIA NYANZA— UGANDA RAILWAY 109

had two or three old friends whom we hoped we might
run across, and in any case a journey of two or three
days on the Uganda Railway, with a stay of a few days
here and there, afforded an opportunity of seeing the
country which was not to be missed. We decided to go
straight on to Kisumu by the Sybil, travel down the line
as far as Nairobi, possibly breaking our journey for a short
visit or two on the way, and come back by the train that
would land us in Uganda again seventeen days later.

In an almost incredibly short time we had arranged
to take most of our kit off the Sybil and stock it in the
Customs shed, leave all but two of our Rhodesian natives
at Entebbe under the protection of the District Com-
missioner, and to engage one of the Government motor
waggons to take us and all our equipment as far as
Mubendi on our return to Entebbe.

These points settled, we went back to the steamer to
advise our staff as to our plans, and then returned for
the second time to the town to lunch with Mr. Russell
at his house. Driving in a rickshaw up the red, green-
edged roads, we admired at every turn the beauties of the
place, but the climax was reached when we arrived at
our host's residence.

The house stands on a little cape with the blue and
silver waters of the lake on three sides of the grounds,
which, starting with a fine terrace in front of the broad
verandah, consist of grassy lawns bright with many-
coloured shrubs and gay flower beds, and shaded by
magnificent trees. The approach lies through the two
finest drives we have seen in Africa, one on either side,
which but for their wealth of colour might have been in
an old English park ; and the porchway of the house
and a large part of the roof is wreathed in the green and
magenta of a superb bougainvillea. The position would
make a poor place into a paradise, but the combination of
this glorious garden and the unique situation form a sight
that can never be forgotten. Whether the bright African
sun is bringing out to the full the rich colours in the
grounds, or whether the fitful gleams of the rising moon

no THROUGH THE HEART OF AFRICA

upon the silver waters of the lake are seen through the
trees, it seems like a veritable fairyland. After lunching
on the cool verandah with such a view around us, we
felt a keen sense of regret at having to return to the boat
to excavate our baggage, though it was modified by an
invitation not only to return to dinner, but to make it our
home on our return from Nairobi.

A couple of strenuous hours saw our superfluous kit
and servants disposed of, and we returned once more
to the town to witness the Police Sports, which were
taking place in the presence of his Excellency the Acting
Governor and Mrs. Tomkins, and of practically every man,
woman, and child in Entebbe.

The show was excellently managed, and presented a
gay and animated spectacle ; the whole breathing a typi-
cally English atmosphere that was refreshing to us after
several weeks in a protectorate which, though friendly,
had been indisputably foreign. After an adjournment to
the hospitable Club, and then another descent to the
steamer to wash and dress, we returned yet again to the
Chief Secretary's house, where an excellent dinner, fol-
lowed by music, ended what will always be remembered
by both of us as one of the most enjoyable, as it was
one of the most strenuous days of our lives. It was just
after midnight when we found ourselves once more on
the deck of the Sybil, and turned in for a good night's
rest. Sonorous murmurs from the lower deck told that
our German friends had already yielded to the exhaustion
of a day of systematic sight-seeing on shore.

If ever travellers had their paths made smooth for
them we had — and we owe a debt of gratitude not easily
expressed in words to every one at Entebbe who helped
us. All that could be done in the capital itself and every-
thing it was possible to arrange by telephone and letter—
the motor journey, carriers at the end of it, guides,
hunters, information as to elephants and food supplies,
&c. — was done voluntarily, and with a readiness to help
that could not be excelled.

The one discordant note in the harmony was sounded

VICTORIA NYANZA— UGANDA RAILWAY iii

by the ill-fated bicycle that had gone wrong near Aber-
corn. The new internal mechanism that had then been
cabled for had arrived, but, although the number and
specification of the bicycle had been quoted in the cable,
the mechanism sent was of a different model, and would
not fit the machine. The third engineer in the Sybil
did what he could, but he had not the apparatus necessary
for tackling case-hardened steel, and we were obliged
to take the cycle and the parts to Nairobi in the hope of
getting it fixed up there.

At five o'clock the following morning we steamed out
of Entebbe Harbour and reached Kampala Port, which is
connected by mono-rail with Kampala, at 8 A.M., but made
only a very short halt. Our course lay through a beauti-
ful part of the lake, studded with gorgeous and fertile
little islands, and it is easy to imagine the chagrin of the
inhabitants when the ravages of Sleeping Sickness necessi-
tated their removal to inland spots free from Glossma
palpalis. Threading our way through these ill-fated beauty-
spots we reached Jinja in the afternoon, and went on
shore at once to visit the Ripon Falls. It is at this point
that the Nile leaves the Victoria Nyanza, and the cataracts
(for they are little more) are one of the finest sights on
the lake. To any one who expects to see real falls, such
as the Victoria Falls in the Zambezi, or the Murchison
Falls lower down the Nile, they would be, of course, a
disappointment, but the sight of the great river pouring
out of the lake cannot but impress even the least impres-
sionable visitor ; and we, who were about to follow the
Nile to its mouth, lingered long at its birthplace, where
some of the local residents were busy with rod and line
catching a fish resembling a chub, which runs on an
average to 5 or 6 lbs. and gives good sport. Walking
back in the lurid light of a stormy sunset, a bush fire
began to show up, winding its snaky path of flame along
the face of the hills across the bay, and as darkness fell the
flickering fire, lightening the outer darkness and reflected
in the water below, added yet one more to the surfeit
of spectacles that was becoming almost bewildering.

112 THROUGH THE HEART OF AFRICA

At Jinja, which is the starting-point of the Jinja-
Kakindu Railway, the latest link in the Cape-to-Cairo line

of communications, we took on board one or two pas-
sengers. One of these. Dr. Milne, the Principal Medical
Officer of British East Africa, was destined to prove,
thanks to his kindness and hospitality, which must be un-
equalled even in tropical Africa, one of the most notable
factors in the success and enjoyment of our visit to the
Protectorate. The morning on which we left Jinja we
met him, as he shared the privilege allowed us by the
chief officer of shaving in his cabin, and after breakfast
we were soon engrossed in conversation with him about
Sleeping Sickness, malaria, spirillum, and other tropical
diseases, which were of interest to us as well as to him ;
and the fact that he knew several friends of ours in East
Africa helped us to forget that we had met for the first
time that day. We were sorry to learn that one of these
friends, whom we had hoped to visit at Eldama Ravine,
reputed to be the most beautiful station in the East Africa
Protectorate, had been moved to a more northerly station
near Lake Rudolph ; but, as things turned out, it was
perhaps all for the best, as in the limited time that our
fast-ebbing leave allowed us, it is doubtful if our stay in
this flourishing dependency could have been arranged in
a more pleasant and instructive manner than that in which
we spent it. Moreover, these sudden changes in our
plans, and the readiness with which we adopted the
kaleidoscopic alterations in our itinerary, added a peculiar
charm to the journey that would have been entirely lack-
ing had everything been cut and dried and in accordance
with pre-conceived arrangements. It is not only advisable
but necessary to map out a journey such as ours before-
hand, but it is really no less important to be able to
depart from one's plans at a moment's notice, as other-
wise one loses half the charm of travel, and frets about
the dislocation of the schedule.

Nightfall found us at Homa Bay and firmly aground
in the muddy bottom of the lake. It was quite an hour
before we got off, but it did not worry us in the least ; we

VICTORIA NYANZA— UGANDA RAILWAY 113

had another sunset on which to feast our eyes, and there
was no train to catch at Port Florence, for the boat was
so late that the ordinary train had been missed quite com-
fortably, and, with such a full tale of passengers, a " special "
was a foregone conclusion. At half-past two on the
following afternoon our skipper brought us up in a masterly
manner at the wharf of the terminus of the Uganda Rail-
way, and we began to realise what a stroke of fortune it
was for us to have met Dr. Milne. He promptly secured
us a reserved compartment adjoining that engaged for
himself and another member of the medical staff, and
then took us for a stroll to the market-place, which affords
one of the most striking contrasts between civilised and
savage Africa that can be imagined. On the one side the
well-built township, the railway station with its well-
appointed trains, the wharf and jetties, alongside of which
are berthed the fine lake steamers, and on the other, at a
distance of only a few minutes' stroll, this market-place,
where the unspoilt Wa-Kavirondo in a state of entire
nudity sell and buy the necessities of life — for a people to
whom clothes in any form are anathema needs but few
luxuries. The two Rhodesian natives who were with us
were more impressed by the unashamed nakedness of
these people than by anything that they had seen up till
then. At the end of our stroll we wended our way to the
house of the Provincial Commissioner — to whom the
doctor had introduced us — for tea, and spent an interest-
ing hour with him discussing the conditions of service
and of life prevalent in his country and in ours, after
which we had a second tea with Captain TurnbuU of the
Sybil and his wife. A halt for billiards at the Club
preceded a final dinner on the boat, immediately after
which we boarded the train, and, sharing Dr. Milne's roomy
compartment till ten o'clock, we returned to our own
quarters and turned in, regretting that we had to miss
some of the finest scenery on the line during the dark
hours of night.

We awoke while passing through fine agricultural
highlands, and at 6.30 passed the magnificent estate

H

114 THROUGH THE HEART OF AFRICA

belonging to Lord Delamere, on which we saw wheat,
maize, and black wattle, all flourishing in the fertile soil
and fostered by the abundant rainfall and sunshine ; as
well as many herds of half-bred cattle and sheep. The
wild fauna were also conspicuous, the graceful Thompson's
gazelle ( " Tommies " ) being the most numerous, though
there were also plenty of zebra, Coke's hartebeeste. Grant's
gazelle and ostrich, and once or twice we saw some jackals
slinking across the plains. An excellent breakfast (at Rs.
1.50 a head) was served at Nakuru Station Hotel, and we
got a good view of this pretty mountain lake, the utility
of which is marred by the brackishness of its water.
Between this point and Naivasha, where we lunched (at
Rs.2 each), there was a good deal of similarity in the
landscape, but it was all good to look upon, only un-
fortunately Lake Naivasha itself was largely obscured by
clouds, which while adding considerable charm to the
landscape, prevented us from getting a good view of the
picturesque panorama.

After lunch the scenery changed as we passed through
the great Rift Valley and on to Escarpment Station on the
far side. We here encountered for the first time natives
of the Kikuyu, Nandi, and Masai tribes, and were much
struck by their graceful bearing and cheerful appearance.
The former especially appeared to us the most accomplished
loafers we had met, an impression that was fully confirmed
latter on. On rising out of the Rift Valley we obtained
but a poor view of this remarkable depression, but even
when wreathed in mist and swept by rain-storms it has a
grandeur that is all its own, and we could well realise
that there are many w^ho never tire of looking at this
wonderful landmark on the world's surface, that changes
with every phase of storm and sunshine. On these slopes,
where the railway meanders along in a way that is a
triumph of modern engineering, no gradient now being
more than i in 50, there are magnificent juniper forests,
which are, unfortunately, being rapidly destroyed for rail-
way purposes, as coal is not employed on the line, as well
as being cut for timber ; and no effort whatever is made

Pho'o by r. Ly.iror.1. .\,iuv/>t

The Uganda Railway.
(Note the curve that the train has just passed.)

VICTORIA NYANZA— UGANDA RAILWAY 115

to replant them — a policy the folly of which will be realised
when it is, perhaps, too late.

Twilight found us rattling along at a good pace as we
descended towards the Athi Plains, and soon after darkness
had overtaken us — the train was not lighted, but luckily
Dr. Milne had two lanterns — we saw what we took to be
a bush fire in the east. It was, however, no bush fire, but
the glow in the sky caused by the electric lights that are
such a prominent feature of that mushroom city of the
plains — Nairobi.

IX

BRITISH EAST AFRICA

Nairobi — The derelict bicycle is repaired — Visits to dentist, photo-
grapher, and other business — Journey to Punda Milia by motor —
View of Mount Kenia — Attack of fever — A sisal farm — Sport —
Return to Nairobi — Hospitality of the residents — The race-meeting
— Lottery night at the Club — Meeting with Wawemba soldiers —
Return to Port Florence — Impressions of the country and of the
natives — Prospects for intending settlers.

When passing through the suburbs the extent of Nairobi
by electric Hght seemed simply appalling, but this was
owing to its straggling nature and not to its actual size —
for the European population is but 800 — and we were
not surprised to learn that it boasts of no less than 42
miles of electrically lighted streets. At eight o'clock the
train drew up at the platform, and we were glad that we
had wired to the Norfolk Hotel to announce our arrival,
as otherwise, being a special train, no conveyances could
have been expected. Leaving our baggage in the hands
of the hotel porter, we proceeded to walk up to the
Norfolk, where we soon settled down, having secured
accommodation for ourselves, our servants, and our dogs.

Nairobi is a settlement that has barely a decade behind
it, and is placed on the edge of a bare, treeless flat, but
relieved from what would have been the deadly monotony
of the site, like its greater sister Johannesburg, by the
eucalyptus trees that the first settlers fortunately intro-
duced, and which have since been steadily added to. It
has grown out of what was originally a railway depot,
and the choice of site was due to the fact that it was the
last level stretch up the line, and therefore eminently
suitable for concentration of railway stock ; though why

it should have been chosen as the capital of the country

116

Government House.

Front View.

BRITISH EAST AFRICA

117

when more suitable and attractive sites are abundant at quite
a short distance along the railway no one seems to know.

The railway at this point roughly bisects the town, at
the south end of which lies the railway station and work-
shops from which Nairobi may be said to have sprung.
East of the line lies all the commercial quarter, the Indian
bazaar, and most of the Government offices, and also the
picturesque native hospital, a little beyond which lies the
Norfolk Hotel. The road in which these buildings stand
is called Government Road, from the fact that it contains
in it the offices in which the Provincial Commissioner,
District Commissioner, and other important officials work.
At first we refused to believe that the row of ancient
tin hutches which composed these offices provides accom-
modation for any Government officials in a town that
could show amongst others such fine stone buildings as
the Treasury, Post Office, and Government House. Start-
ing as one of the principal streets of the town, this road
becomes a fine avenue at the point where these Govern-
ment offices decorate it, and ends up as the Thika Road,
in which form it is the principal artery of the fast-growing
suburb of Parklands.

Between it and the railway, to which it is more or less
parallel, lie the Episcopal, Catholic, and then incompleted
Presbyterian churches, and the Post Office and Treasury,
all of which show what can be achieved in the way of
architecture with the local limestone. In the extreme
south-east lies the race-course.

On the west of the line is the suburb known as The
Hill. Here is Government House, an imposing building
which is probably very comfortable though it is not in
keeping with the rest of the town, the Club, the European
hospital, and most of the officials' residences, as well as the
Governor's office and the Secretariat. At the top of the
hill lie the polo and cricket grounds, golf-links and tennis-
courts, and near to them the barracks of two battalions of
the King's African Rifies.

Among the residents of Nairobi were two friends whom
we had been hoping to meet, Dr. Ross, the Government

ii8 THROUGH THE HEART OF AFRICA

Bacteriologist, a cousin of one of us (Cholmeley), and Mr.
Montgomery, the veterinary pathologist, who had worked
for some time in North-Eastern Rhodesia and was known to
both of us. Thanks to them and to Dr. Milne we made
the acquaintance of many of the officials and other re-
sidents in the town, and spent some pleasant and instructive
hours in their company. To the last-named we owe, too,
the rectification of the error of the cycle company which
had sent out a mechanism that did not fit the disabled
bicycle.

On his introduction, Mr. Gallagher, engineer in charge
of the Uganda Railway workshops, not only showed us
over the whole of his works, but allowed his staff to
undertake the task of fixing up the machine. It took
a day and a half to achieve, and at one time certainly
was occupying no less than three separate lathes, so we
had reason to be thankful that we were able to command
the services of probably one of the most advanced work-
shops in Africa. It was equipped with plant for the
manufacture of practically the whole rolling stock of the
system, and was, at the time of our visit, engaged in the
building of some passenger coaches of a new type.

Our two native servants, who were allowed to go over
the works one afternoon, looked as if they were going to
be permanently open-mouthed with wonder at the white
man's magic, and one of them, Kasonde, who eventually
travelled through to England, bore ofif a prize in the shape
of a fragment of |-inch steel plate, which had been espe-
cially cut and punched for him, which he will probably
treasure to the end of his days, unless he spends it on the
purchase of a new wife.

Amongst other attractions of which Nairobi boasted
was, we were told, an efficient dentist. Both of us were
in need of this kind of torturer — one generally is after
four or five years in Central Africa — and, though rather
doubting the rumour, took the first opportunity of putting
it to the test. It is only fair to say that our scepticism
was not justified, and that our troubles were dealt with in
a manner which afforded us considerable relief.

Nairobi Races.

The Grand Stand.

BRITISH EAST AFRICA

119

The development of the photographs which we had
been taking consistently since leaving Rhodesia was another
bit of business that had to be attended to. Photography
was not the main object of our journey, and, after thinking
over the matter, we had decided at the beginning of it not
to develop our photographs en route. As we only wanted
the pictures as a record of what we saw, and remembering
the fact that our camp would hardly ever be two nights in
the same place, and that the quantity and temperature of
the water would often render development a difficult pro-
cess, we refrained from attempting it. We had exposed
over two hundred films and about fifty plates, and were
glad to seize the opportunity afforded by a visit to civili-
sation to get them developed. This was most satisfactorily
done by the local photographer, who took a keen interest
in the work, and handled our materials with the greatest
care.

It was abundantly evident that time was not going
to hang heavy on our hands at Nairobi. We had a little
shopping to do and, as for the leisure we had left our-
selves, people seemed laying themselves out to give us
a good time. In no place in the world, perhaps, does
a man find his kindred spirits so quickly, or meet with
such a cheering welcome, as in the capitals and centres of
our oversea dependencies, and it was a great delight to
meet, not only with such a hospitable welcome, but with
a willingness to answer our catechisms which was as great
as our thirst for knowledge.

It was very tempting under the circumstances to
remain at Nairobi, but with over a fortnight to fill in,
we felt we must try and get an opportunity of seeing
something of the country outside, and possibly of securing
some of the common varieties of game that were new
to us, such as Thompson's and Grant's gazelle, Jackson's
and Coke's hartebeeste.

Hardly had we begun to think of ways and means
when, by a stroke of luck, the thing arranged itself. Mr.
A. B. Percival, the acting game ranger, had informed us
that if, as was possible, we could obtain permission to

I20 THROUGH THE HEART OF AFRICA

shoot in one of the estates in the neighbourhood, the
possession of a licence would entitle us to hunt practi-
cally anything, except elephant and ostrich, for a period of
one month.

We had hardly had time thoroughly to digest his in-
formation when we met Mr. Rutherfoord, of Swift and
Rutherfoord, the owners of a sisal farm some 47
miles from Nairobi, He and his partner would be de-
lighted, he said, if we would come out and spend a few
days at the farm and shoot whatever we wanted. As
it was but 6 miles from the main road to Fort Hall,
to which place a regular motor-van service was running,
the matter of transport presented no great difficulties.
The return journey had to be arranged for, as the next
visit of the van would be too late for us, but the engage-
ment of a few carriers to take our baggage from the
motor road to the farm was arranged by telegraph with
the District Commissioner, Fort Hall, and the same gang
would be able to carry it back to Nairobi at the end
of our visit, while we ourselves came in on bicycles. Our
beds we had left at Port Florence, the rest of our outfit
and our weapons at Entebbe, but Dr. Milne once more
came to our rescue and provided us with everything we
wanted, in the way of a tent, beds, and camp and kitchen
equipment, a rifle and some ammunition, for a few days
in the bush. A second rifle and a couple of native hunters
were obtained without difficulty from the Boma Trading
Company, the same firm that was responsible for the
Fort Hall motor service.

Everything so far had been going so smoothly, that
we were not altogether surprised when at the last moment
the whole programme was nearly wrecked by a fiasco.
The van was to start at six o'clock on Sunday morning,
9th October ; it was arranged that it should call for us
at the Norfolk Hotel on its way out, and as we were given
to understand that we were to be the only occupants, we
got our baggage, bicycles, and boys ready, and proceeded
to await it without anxiety.

It was with something approaching a shock, therefore,

BRITISH EAST AFRICA

12 1

that, a few minutes past six, we saw the thing thunder by
like an inspired Juggernaut, only giving us time to notice
that it seemed to be full to the brim of baggage and
densely populated with passengers to boot. The hotel
management realised the situation quicker than we did ;
a nigger on a bicycle shot out of the front gate like a
torpedo, and gave such effective chase that he succeeded
in catching the elusive vehicle just as it was slowing up
on a curve not more than half a mile away. It couldn't
turn round, we heard (and wouldn't, doubtless, if it could),
so we piled our baggage on to a couple of rickshaws and
lost no time in picking up its spoor. When we came
up with it, we found that our passing impressions had
been more or less correct. There were two other
European passengers on the front seat with the driver,
and there were ten natives and Indians on the top of
a pile of baggage that looked the absolute limit. It was
not encouraging, but it was absurd to give it up.

The task of piling Pelion on Ossa was once more
tackled, and, impossible as it seemed, baggage, boys, and
bicycles were eventually stacked more or less precariously
on the top, while we squeezed our dogs and ourselves
in front, and with a jolt and a buzz we were on our
way. The road went up and down, but was mostly
quite good, our worst enemy being occasional patches
of sand. We sometimes reached a speed of eighteen or
twenty miles an hour, and, with a cargo of which the
foundation was six 8oo-lb. casks of tar, we were weighing
between seven and eight tons. On the whole it was more
comfortable than it looked ; the extra weight, over powerful
springs, made it fairly smooth going, and we glided over
many a little gutter or bump as if it had not been there.

We crossed numerous small streams on well-built
timber bridges, of which a few were in process of being
replaced by stone structures. Some looked a bit flimsy
and some were definitely labelled under repair, but all
proved equal to us. The way in which we rattled over the
latter in spite of notices bearing the legend " This bridge

IS CLOSED FOR REPAIRS," Or " THIS BRIDGE IS DANGEROUS,"

122 THROUGH THE HEART OF AFRICA

the warning red flag being either ignored or calmly re-
moved by a native who had dismounted for the purpose,
was an undeniably stimulating experience.

After going 30 miles we reached the Thika River
at about midday, and lunched at the Blue Post Hotel.
This consists of one semi-open oblong house, containing
dining-room and bar, and a few round bedroom huts,
all very neatly built of grass and reeds. The camp
stands between two fine streams, the Thika and the
Chamia, which meet a few hundred yards behind it, and
on each side of which is quite a notable waterfall, the
two being hardly a quarter of a mile apart.

One of our fellow-passengers was a settler of some
years' standing, who, besides owning an estate some way up
the line, which he had successfully farmed for some years,
had recently invested in a large area near Mile 35 on the
Fort Hall Road, which he was devoting to the cultivation
of wheat. He was optimistic and even enthusiastic about
the prospects of British East Africa as a wheat-growing
country, and already had a large acreage under the plough,
which he was going to sow at the beginning of the next
rains. He had an additional interest in the country in
the shape of an ox transport service which was growing
rapidly. His oxen, fortunately, were all immune from the
comparatively new cattle disease of gastro-enteritis, which
had been causing much anxiety and expense to both the
settlers and the administration.

At a quarter to four, shortly after dropping him at
his farm, the car drew up by some grass sheds, and we
dismounted, leaving all our kit except our blankets and
rifles in the care of the natives in charge, and cycled on
by a fairly good waggon track to Punda Milia, a distance
of 6 miles ; passing the estate of Sisal Limited en ivute
and getting a glimpse of Mount Kenia in the distance.
One of us (Cholmeley) was suffering from an attack of
fever which had been growing more acute as the day
advanced, and which confined him to bed throughout our
stay on the farm, so that the account of what was done
there has to be in the first person singular. We were

BRITISH EAST AFRICA

123

warmly welcomed by Messrs, Swift and Rutherfoord, and
the latter kindly gave up his room and his bed to
Cholmeley, who turned in immediately on our arrival.
After dinner we chatted for an hour or two about the
prospects in British East Africa and Rhodesia, the pro-
blems of native labour, and kindred matters, and went to
bed at ten o'clock.

Cholmeley passed a fair night, but was not fit to leave
his bed in the morning, so I went out alone for a shoot.
The country was quite open, consisting of bare plains
and hills, and the game was extraordinarily wild. The
moment I appeared on the hillside every animal within
sight began to bolt. After a little manoeuvring I suc-
ceeded in approaching to within 200 yards of a Koiigoni
bull (Coke's hartebeeste), and my first shot found his heart.
This was a promising beginning, and I hoped I might
secure one or two good trophies, for I saw plenty of
hartebeeste, zebra, and "Tommies" about, besides one
herd of eland, and a solitary roan. Of these the only
beasts that appealed to me were hartebeeste and
" Tommies " as I had shot plenty of the others elsewhere.
However, I had no luck, for I failed to get within shooting
distance of a single " Tommy." I had a couple more
shots at hartebeeste, but missed each time, and returned
to the farm at about three o'clock. My tent was pitched
by this time, and I moved into it.

Dr. Pritchard of Fort Hall, who was en route for
Nairobi, arrived at sundown. We hoped that it would be
possible to ride as far as the Thika River the next day to
catch the motor-car there, but in the morning Cholmeley
was still unable to travel, and Mr. Swift, who was cycling
in to Nairobi, promised to have a mule cart sent to the
Thererika Bridge to meet us on the following day in case
he should be strong enough to cycle that far. I walked
out to inspect the sisal crops, and was much impressed by
the large area devoted to it, and by the splendid way the
farm — which is the oldest sisal farm in the Protectorate —
was managed. Sisal is grown for its fibre, and resembles
a large pineapple plant. It is propagated by suckers

124 THROUGH THE HEART OF AFRICA

and " bulbils," and the first leaves can be cut about the
third year, and cutting continues for three more, after /
which it " poles," like the aloe to which it is akin, and
then dies. A good deal of machinery is required for
decorticating the fibre, but at the present price (about
£2?) per ton) it appears to be a profitable undertaking.
When first planted, beans are grown between the plants
as a catchcrop. The beans are issued to natives living
on the farm, who plant them and sell the produce to the
farmer at a fixed rate. The natives have the advantage
of using ground already ploughed and prepared, while
the farmer not only gets a good profit on the beans,
which he exports, but their cultivation keeps the sisal
ground free from weeds.

At three o'clock I went out to have another try for a
" Tommy," but though I saw many, and spent three hours
carefully stalking them, I failed to get within range. On
my return I found Cholmeley's temperature had not
dropped appreciably, and began to doubt if we should be
able to leave the next day, but nevertheless I got up at
half-past five, packed up the tent and my belongings, and
then went round to look at him. 1 found his temperature
had dropped to below normal, and he was very weak.
However, he declared himself able to travel, and rose at
seven o'clock. Accompanied by a young pupil from the
farm who rode my bicycle, while Cholmeley rode a mule
lent by our hosts, who from start to finish had been kind-
ness personified, I mounted his bicycle, and we kept
together, so that he could change to the machine when
tired of the mule. It was a trying journey for a sick man,
and though he rode the machine down hill and on the
flat, and the mule up hill, he was utterly exhausted by the
time we reached the " Blue Post." After a short halt
there he felt strong enough to continue the ride to the
Thererika Bridge, which we reached at three o'clock,
though I doubt if he could have ridden any farther. Here
we not only found the Cape cart and four mules awaiting
us, but luckily Mr. Ward, the foreman in charge of the
repair work, proved to be a true Samaritan, and though

TWO-VEAR SlSAL AT PUNUA MiLlA.

BRITISH EAST AFRICA 125

too busy to look after us in person, invited us to rest in his
tent, where his boys brought us tea, whisky, food, cigars,
and everything that they could think of, and, moreover,
lent me a warm overcoat for Cholmeley, and a flask of
whisky, in case Cholmeley should feel the cold when
darkness fell. At four o'clock our two boys, who had
followed on foot from the farm, turned up, and we started
off in the cart for Nairobi. It was shockingly bumpy, and
the road, which had seemed so good from the seat of a
heavy motor van, appeared in a far less favourable light to
travellers in a Cape cart in which the springs were worse
than none. The mules, too, shied at all the white posts
that marked the causeways through the papyrus swamps,
but in spite of it all we reached Ali Khan's mews in three
hours and forty minutes, a fairly creditable rate for 23
miles considering the conditions.

At the mews we found a telephone message informing
us that we were to go straight to Dr. Milne's and not to the
hotel, so transferring our weary bodies to a waggonette,
we drove up to the Hill, where the Doctor made us very
welcome, though I soon realised that he had had nothing
to do with the invitation ! However, he insisted on my
staying and sharing his room, all his others being full, and
Cholmeley went on to Dr. Ross's house. Not only did I
get a bed, but I was provided with everything else, from a
particularly welcome bath to some dress clothes, and taken
out to dinner, finally returning to rest at midnight, very
tired after 46 miles trying travelling, and being on the go
for over nineteen hours. I rose fairly refreshed at seven,
but in spite of repeated telephone messages failed to get
any clothes up from the hotel till 8.45, and as those in
which I had returned from Punda Milia were caked with
the red dust of the road, owing to a sudden descent I had
made over the mule's head, I had to remain undressed
till nine o'clock, when I went over to see Cholmeley, who
was none the worse for his exertions, and quite con-
valescent.

Having paid off our carriers, who arrived at ten, and
having had our baggage removed from the hotel to Dr.

126 THROUGH THE HEART OF AFRICA

Milne's and Dr. Ross's respectively, we lunched at the
latter's house, and then went down with him in his motor
to the races.

Race meetings, of which there are three or four in the
year, form a notable feature of life in East Africa, for as
the meetings of various associations are frequently arranged
to coincide, they afford a good opportunity for the settlers
and others from outlying parts to meet ; and, besides
forming an agreeable interlude in their lives, enable them
to discuss amongst themselves, and with the residents at
the capital, the different problems that mutually concern
them. These race meetings are held on Thursday and
Saturday, the preceding nights being devoted to lotteries,
while a fancy dress ball or other entertainment often
follows on the Monday or Tuesday of the following week.
On the course we found a fair number of people, including
Sir Percy Girouard, the Governor, who had just returned
from safari} The King's African Rifles, whose band played
a selection of popular airs between the races, had a re-
freshment tent and dispensed tea and drinks. Here we
met E. S. Grogan, — a contemporary of Cholmeley's at
Cambridge, — who has a big stake in the country, and were
interested in talking to him not only about the prospects
for settlers in the Protectorate, but also about such parts
of our route as coincided with his own traverse of the
continent in 1898.

Heavy rain fell just after the last event on the card, so
we sheltered in the hospitable tent of the King's African
Rifies till the storm subsided, when we motored back to
the Club, prior to dining at Dr. Ross's.

The Club, which is the centre of Nairobi life, is a fairly
good, though, for Nairobi, rather an old building ; it con-
tains reading and card-rooms, besides a fine billiard-room
— with two tables — round the walls of which are several
splendid shooting trophies, notably one of the few exist-
ing specimens of the rare bongo.

The following morning was chiefly occupied with

I The word is here used to signify "a journey." It is also used to denote the
caravan, and everything pertaining to it.

BRITISH EAST AFRICA

shopping. Our train for Port Florence was to leave on
Saturday at noon, and the last twenty-four hours in
Nairobi were brimful of entertainment that was as varie-
gated as it was amusing.

We began with a sumptuous lunch, with about a score
of fellow-guests, on the airy verandah of the Norfolk
Hotel. It had originally been Dr. Milne's lunch, but by
the time we arrived the " hostship " had, by some
mysterious process, got changed, and we found ourselves
the guests of Dr. Chevalier, another member of the
medical staff of the country.

Business of various kinds occupied the afternoon till
four o'clock, when we drove up in Dr. Ross's car to pay
our respects at Government House. We then enjoyed a
short spin along the roads by the King's African Rifles
Camp and the western suburbs of the town, during which
we got a glimpse of the lower slopes of Kilimanjaro —
90 miles away — and though the car achieved a puncture,
we got back just before dark.

The evening at the Club which followed vividly re-
minded us that it was race-week, which means, ipso facto,
that Nairobi is very much en fete. A sumptuous dinner
at which, with a score of others, we were the guests of M.
Argyropoulos, was followed by the serious and protracted
business of selling by auction the sweepstake tickets for
the next day's races.

This satisfactorily completed, a short interval for rest
and refreshment was succeeded by a little wholesome
exercise in the shape of billiard fives and billiard hockey.
If any of our readers happens not to be acquainted with
either of these pastimes, and is finding that the orthodox
methods of using a billiard table begin to pall upon him,
we recommend him to try billiard fives and billiard
hockey, but preferably on some one else's table, and not
at all if he suffers from tender hands.

If there were not actually several of our fellow-players
wearing their hands in slings and their ribs in plaster of
Paris next day, we wager that there were a few who wished
they had been.

128 THROUGH THE HEART OF AFRICA

Supper shortly followed, a meal at which there were
some three times as many guests as had sat down to
dinner, and at which, we noted with admiration, the only
beverage served was lager beer. Supper and a few com-
plimentary speeches and replies disposed of, at about
midnight the company adjourned to the card-room, which
was also the music-room, and had been cleared for action,
and enlivened the next hour or two with a variety, choral,
and terpsichorean entertainment. Some of the items were
premeditated, some were not. Amongst the former the
most notable were the topical songs, written for the
occasion, which dealt in a spirit of playful badinage with
the political problems as well as the characteristics and
achievements of the local celebrities.

Among the latter were the Cake-walks and Apache
dancing, and a completely novel equestrian turn. Ordinary
methods of applause were quite inadequate to express the
enthusiastic appreciation of the dancers' efforts, and the
audience were obliged to have recourse to beating a
vigorous tattoo with their heels upon the doors, which
resulted in the latter being rather short of panels at the
end of the performance.

In the circus act, which was the last item on the card,
the venue changed from the concert to the billiard-room.
A horse, that had been found patiently awaiting his owner
at the Club gates, was skilfully ridden by two of the com-
pany twice round the tables and up to the bar, at which
it was prevailed upon to partake of a little much-needed
refreshment in the shape of a small bottle of lager beer.

After a consomme de partir in the shape of a round of
prairie oysters, we dispersed to our homes at 2.30 A.M., and
had to be content with about three and a half hours' sleep,
for we had an interesting engagement before breakfast.

One of the companies of the 2nd Battalion of the
King's African Rifles (the so-called Yao Battalion) was, we
found, entirely composed of Wawemba recruited from
Northern Rhodesia. Three or four of them had learnt of
our arrival and had already called upon us, and we had
promised to pay their barracks a visit with the object of

BRITISH EAST AFRICA

129

seeing them all on early parade. It was something of an
effort, but we had to be up early in any case, to be sure of
getting through various little jobs in time to catch our
train, and we did not want to disappoint them or ourselves,
with Kasonde and Kakakota, who, of course, had found
numerous " brothers " and " fathers " amongst them. We
reached the parade ground just in time to see them before
they were marched off to fatigue duty at the race-course,
and, after a few minutes' chat also visited their lines,
where we were entrusted with numerous messages to their
kindred in Rhodesia from their wives and families. They
seemed without exception to be thoroughly enjoying their
life and duties, and had nothing to complain of except
that they had been left behind at headquarters while some
of their comrades were out north on " active service " of
sorts. The population of British East Africa, they said, was
getting too tame, and there wasn't enough war to go
round.

The rest of the morning was occupied in repacking,
executing a few final commissions in the town, and con-
veying ourselves and our baggage to the station. Owing
to the eccentric interpretation of his orders by a coolie
employe of the local job-master, we as nearly as possible
finished up by missing our train, but eventually, with the
assistance of a heaven-sent rickshaw, just succeeded in
catching it by the skin of our teeth. The station was
crowded with travellers of all sorts and colours, who, like
ourselves, seemed to be afflicted with the bustle and con-
fusion of having left everything to the last minute, and
but for the timely assistance of Drs. Milne and Ross, who
had come to see us off, we — who by this time were prob-
ably more out of our element on a railway station than
any of our fellow-passengers — should almost certainly
have been left behind.

We had a few minutes awful anxiety at Naivasha. One
of our two boys, who had left the train and trekked into
the interior to buy food at a store somewhere near the
horizon, was nowhere to be seen when we were on the
point of moving off. The engine driver gave us a minute's

I

130 THROUGH THE HEART OF AFRICA

grace and an extra long blast on his whistle, and to our
relief the boy turned up in the nick of time, just when we
were seriously debating whether it would be better simply
to leave him behind or for one of us to stop behind too.
He had not, unfortunately, realised that anything that we
"were travelling in, even if it were a train, did not neces-
sarily belong to us, or was not entirely under our control.

The rest of the journey was uneventful, and we reached
Port Florence at eight o'clock on the following morning.
What we had seen of the Protectorate had far from dis-
appointed us. Having heard, as one mostly does, of the
principal feature of the country being its huge open plains,
the valleys and escarpments and the tropical wealth of
vegetation in the highlands came as a magnificent surprise.
The highlands generally, though much greener and fresher,
owing to the greater rainfall, are vividly reminiscent of
the high veld of South Africa. The scenery through which
the train passes before descending into the Rift Valley,
with its glimpses of Nakuru and Naivasha Lakes, and the
majestic profile of the extinct volcano and its sister peaks
throwing their purple shadows across the plains below us,
far surpassed anything we had seen in Africa, not exclud-
ing the Hex River mountain pass in the Cape Colony.
That of the Mau escarpment, on the first stage after leaving
the lake, is held to be quite as fine, though we unfor-
tunately passed through it at night-time.

The plains, though dotted with game as far as the eye
could see, and evidently magnificent both for stock-raising
and agriculture, did not at first impress us much more
than any other practically treeless country, but it was not
long before we began to realise that, though presenting
a marked contrast to the woodlands of Northern Rhodesia,
it was a type of landscape that would, in a very short
time, grow upon one more, perhaps, than a less open land-
scape ever can.

In considering the prospects of the territory it must
be borne in mind that it falls into two parts that are quite
distinct from each other ; the low-lying tropical coast-
belt, including the fertile province of Juba-land, which is

BRITISH EAST AFRICA

mainly devoted to plantations, consisting of Ceara rubber,
cocoanuts, and sea-island cotton with many catchcrops
such as maize, sim-sim,^ and ground nuts ; and the more
temperate highlands, chiefly occupied by agricultural
farmers and ranchers.

Our observations were confined to the latter, as we
were unable to find time to travel farther than Nairobi,
East of which point the plantation area begins. The
highland farming community must, moreover, be divided
into three groups, those who confine themselves entirely
to agriculture, those combining agriculture with stock-
raising, and finally those whose energies are restricted to
the latter.

The principal crops cultivated by the first-named are
sisal, wheat, and black wattle, the first of which we have
already described. Wheat-growing has taken its place
more recently as one of the principal industries of the
Protectorate, and the view taken of its possibilities by
those who have invested their money in it can only be
described as enthusiastic. Such diseases as have so far
attacked the crops have been mastered, and with a fertile
soil and climatic conditions that permit of two crops a
year, and an average yield of about 20 bushels per acre,
the outlook is certainly most promising. We were in-
formed that the area under wheat is increasing by leaps and
bounds, and that on some estates as much as 700 acres
can be seen in an unbroken block, so that its cultivation
is already well beyond the experimental stage.

The cultivation of black wattle is also carried on on a
large scale, and is reputed to be very profitable. The tree
can be stripped of its bark in the sixth year, and catchcrops,
especially maize, can be grown during the first three
years. There is apparently some difficulty about drying
it by natural means owing to the climate, which adds
considerably to the cost of production, but this need not
deter the farmer, as wattle has many uses besides its
tanning bark — which is worth about a ton on the
farm.

A plant which is grown for its oil.

132 THROUGH THE HEART OF AFRICA

The land along the railway and near the Nairobi-
Fort Hall Road, where a branch line is in course of con-
struction, is all taken up, but fresh tracts are continually
being opened as the demand increases ; the Uasin Gishu,
Nandi Gishu, and part of the Kenia District are being
rapidly occupied, and when these areas are taken up more
will be opened for settlement. It is in these less accessible
areas that stock-raising appeals to the settler, since live-
stock can go on its own legs to the railway instead of
having to be carried. It must not be inferred, however,
that there are no cattle ranches or sheep, pig, and ostrich
runs on the line, as some of the most important stock
farms — as, for instance. Lord Delamere's estates in the
Njoro District, which are mixed, and E. S. Grogan's sheep
runs at Naivasha — are right on the line. Owing to the
different nature of the grazing required, cattle and sheep
are not to be found in close proximity. Ostrich farming
forms a not inconsiderable branch of stock-raising, and
with careful selection is proving a profitable industry.
Lucerne, which is useful for ostriches as for pigs (which
also thrive on bananas), grows well, and can be cut four
times a year.

We gathered that for a young man coming out to farm
a capital of about ^^1200 is considered advisable, and that
the wisest course is for him to start as a pupil on an
established farm, taking up meanwhile a tract of land for
which he pays, but on which he need not immediately
fulfil the development conditions. Labour is fairly cheap,
natives being obtainable at Rs.3 to Rs.q a month, but the
necessity for some kind of Labour Bureau seems to be
beginning to be felt, as competition between the farmers,
and more especially between the planters and the farmers,
is driving up the rate of wages.

The Uganda Railway has at the present more exports
than imports, and the former are increasing steadily,
especially from Uganda and the lake, which results in a
steady fall in the rates, even now quite moderate for most
of the main crops. The German railway will probably hit
the import trade hard, as we have pointed out elsewhere,

BRITISH EAST AFRICA

133

but it will hardly touch the export traffic. There seems
to be no doubt that the country has a bright future in
store. Farms of 1000 acres purchased six to ten years
ago for £66 (Rs.500) are now worth ^^looo, and land is
steadily increasing in value, the usual price in a newly-
opened district being now Rs.2 per acre. The class of
settler is distinctly above the average, and the Protectorate
seems to offer more to men of the public school type than
Canada or Australia, where mere manual labour is princi-
pally in demand. No one afraid of work should go to
British East Africa, but what is wanted most is essentially
the man that can make a good overseer and manager :
one who, while working himself, can manage and direct
others, especially natives ; and this is the very type that
our public schools, whatever their faults may be, produce.

It is a well-favoured country, and amply justifies the
construction of the great railway from the coast to the
lake. With its plantation area near the coast, its enor-
mous tracts in the highlands suitable for farming and
ranching, and with Uganda producing cotton, cocoa, coffee,
and rubber in the interior, the railway should within a
reasonable time pay interest on its capital as well as paying
its way. It has simply created the country as it now is,
and has lifted it from savagery and slavery into a fairly
well-populated agricultural dependency.

The natives were some of them the most interesting
we had come across, and we should much have liked to
know more of them. The Wa-Kavirondo we saw at Port
Florence and Kibos, the next station to the Port, at which
were a dozen or so of both sexes in their " national
costume " of nothing at all, were principally striking for
their lack of shyness or false modesty. Of the Masai we
saw but few, but were impressed by their graceful carriage
and independent air.

Of the Wakikuyu we saw most, in and round Nairobi
itself. Their costume consists of a single blanket or skin
hung from one shoulder across the body, and little else,
except red paint and ornaments. One of the things that
delighted us was the manner in which they stroll about

134 THROUGH THE HEART OF AFRICA

Nairobi without the slightest ambition to af¥ect a more
elaborate attire, and the fact that the Government has not
attempted to coerce them. Their ear ornaments are re-
markable, often five or six to each ear, and their red
paint gives them quite an artistic appearance. As workers
they are obviously a failure at present. The glimpse of
their efforts as displayed at the Thererika Bridge only con-
firmed the impression made by each and every one of them
as he strolled through the streets of the town. They are
elegant and artistic loafers. Their women are an excep-
tion ; they seem to do more carrying than the men ; they
carry their loads in the small of the back, supported by
means of a skin band passed round the forehead, instead
of balancing them on their heads. Occasionally a child
is seen straddling its mother's back, and perched on the
top of the load, and not infrequently the Wakikuyu women
are seen at a run.

The towns also contain a large trading population of
Indians, and coast natives of Arab extraction. They
seemed to be a decent and law-abiding, if not particularly
attractive community.

The country to which the Protectorate most inv'ites
comparison is undoubtedly Southern Rhodesia, which
being also a mixed agricultural and ranching territory, and
not many years older, has many points in common. Both
offer sound prospects of success to much the same type of
man, and, apart from differences in crops, such as the
predominance of maize and tobacco in Southern Rhodesia
and of wheat and sisal in East Africa, there is so much
resemblance that the intending settler may well find it
difficult to decide to which of the two countries he will
entrust his fortune. The point that struck us most was
that, whereas East Africa is perhaps more favoured by
nature. Southern Rhodesia has a tremendous pull in
having a large and ever-increasing market at its doors in
the Union of South Africa, apart from the demands created
by its own mining community.

The climate of the East Africa highlands is good, but
perhaps a little more treacherous than that of its southern

BRITISH EAST AFRICA

135

rival — a fact which is attributed not only to its proximity
to the equator but also to its altitude, which has a trying
effect on residents who stay too long without an occasional
visit to a temperate zone.

We were exceedingly glad that we had had this brief
glimpse of British East Africa, especially as the people
whom we met in Uganda were rather inclined to speak
disparagingly of it, and we might, had we not gone, have
carried away with us a false impression, imagining, from
the proximity of the source from which our information
had come, that it was a correct one. This delightful fort-
night showed us a great country in the making, a country
where an enormous amount has been done in the brief
space of ten years — i.e. since the railway rendered de-
velopment possible — and as fine a monument to the
colonising genius of the British race as one could wish to
see. Under the guidance of its present Governor, Sir
Percy Girouard, who appears to have made an equally
favourable impression as a sound and able administrator
on the non-official population as he has on the members
of his administration, the steady progress of the territory,
at any rate during the next few years, seems sufficiently
assured.

X

RETURN TO ENTEBBE AND BY MOTOR
TO MUBENDI

Across the lake on the s.s. Clement Hill — The Entebbe Customs — Botani-
cal Gardens — Preparations for journey north — The golf-links —
Further impressions of Entebbe — Departure by motor-waggon —
Rain at Kampala — Wonders of the motor road — Its maintenance —
" Mosquito Camp " — Our fellow-passengers and the prospects for
settlers — Mishap to the car and other incidents — Mubendi — Meeting
with the Acting Governor.

At a little past eight we left the train and embarked on
the s.s. Clement Hill, which was berthed alongside the quay,
and found to our relief that breakfast was awaiting us.
The Clement Hill is the newest and largest of the lake
fleet, and corresponds more or less in size with the Nyanza.
It is even better appointed than the Sybil, which we had
found comfortable enough, though overcrowded. Our
fellow-passengers this time consisted of a young engineer
taking up an appointment in the Public Works Depart-
ment of the Uganda Government ; two intending planters ;
a couple of subalterns of the King's African Rifles stationed
at Bombo, who were returning after a spirited effort to
lift a cup at Nairobi with two reputed Somali ponies that
had been disqualified as being nothing of the kind, and
who were pretty cheerful considering the unfortunate and
rather expensive fiasco that had awaited them ; and, lastly,
Mr. and Mrs. Akeley of America. This enterprising and
interesting couple had already seen a good deal of Uganda
and British East Africa, and on a previous visit had suc-
ceeded in securing specimens of most of the game in the
two Protectorates, and were looking for more. Their
object was the collection of specimens for a museum,
and their intention to spend three or four months on a
round trip in Uganda. Mrs. Akeley had just succeeded

136

ENTEBBE AND MUBENDI

137

in bagging two lions under exceptionally trying circum-
stances and a big elephant near Mount Kenia, while her
husband had had about as near an escape as he wanted
from being annihilated by another one, which, he ex-
plained, had strongly objected to what must have appeared
to be an attempt to extract its tusks while it was still alive.

In the early afternoon we had our attention called to
an extraordinary phenomenon, which is, however, quite
common on the lake. The chief engineer, on coming
down late to lunch, told us that he had seen a waterspout
quite close. As we had finished our meal we hurried up
on deck to obtain a glimpse of it, and saw near the
southern horizon a grey smoke-like column arising from
the surface of the lake and expanding into what looked a
cloud above. Thinking that this must be the engineer's
waterspout we approached Captain Gray and Mr. Akeley,
who were also intently observing it, and asked them if we
were right in our conjecture.

"Waterspout!" said the skipper without a smile —
" Flies."

" Flies ? " we repeated, and thinking our legs were being
pulled, turned to Mr. Akeley in the hope of eliciting a
more sympathetic explanation.

" Quite true," he said. " Flies. Haven't you seen
the lake fly before ? "

" No," we retorted, " we haven't ; we didn't know
it flew."

Assuring us that neither he nor the skipper had any
intention of deceiving us, he explained that he was really
referring to the insect known as the " lake fly," 1 and not
to any spasmodic frivolity on the part of the waters of
Victoria Nyanza. The apparent waterspout was nothing
more or less than a huge cloud of myriads of tiny flies,
which rise from the surface of the lake in such dense
columns as sometimes to obscure the light of the sun like
a pillar of smoke.

We anchored for the night in the open lake, and were

* Also found on Lake Nyasa and possibly on Tanganyika. Vide George
Gretifell and the Conge, footnote to vol. i. p. 233.

138 THROUGH THE HEART OF AFRICA

not a little disturbed by the ship's mosquitoes. In the
innocent remembrance of our cool untroubled nights on
the deck of the Sybil we had forgotten to suspect their
existence, and thought mosquito curtains a superfluity.
We reached Entebbe shortly after noon on Monday the
17th of October, and after lunching on board proceeded
to the business of rescuing our baggage from the sheds
and passing it through the Customs. Owing to the lack
of transport we were unable to remove the property we
had left stored, but, after four hours, succeeded in getting
nearly all the baggage we had with us through the office,
which was at the end of the pier, and up to the town to
Mr. Russell's house. To our surprise and relief the
Goanese clerk whom we found in possession informed us
that nothing was dutiable, and only guns and ammunition
required permits of importation. As a matter of fact our
joy was short-lived ; all our property except personal
clothing was, as we had indeed believed, subject to an
import duty of 10 per cent, ad valorem. The babu's
mistake was due to his failure to realise that we had come
from anywhere else than the East Africa Protectorate.
But by means of a roundabout communication from
Mombasa on the subject of a revolver that we had had
with us, and had left at Kisumu on proceeding to Nairobi,
the Customs Department had been apprised of our exist-
ence, and on meeting the Customs officer later in the
day we learnt the bitter truth.

A stroll in the Botanical Gardens and a short visit to
the Club brought us to dinner-time, after which, as tired
as if we had been doing a busy day's shopping, we retired
early to bed.

The Botanical Gardens gave us a hint of the treraen-
dous fertility of the Uganda Protectorate, of which we
were to see such ample proof later on. The beds and
groves of cultivated flowers and trees are interspersed with
clumps and arbours of forest giants and patches of creeper-
tangled jungle which, in their original unspoilt luxuriance,
lend a convincing air of naturalness to the whole. Coffee,
cocoa, rubber trees of various kinds, including the Fun-

ENTEBBE AND MUBENDI

139

tumia which is indigenous to Uganda, are flourishing in
their separate plantations, while beds and shelters are
devoted to the nursing of cuttings and the propagation of
seedlings or rare orchids and local floral treasures.

Partly for experiment, and partly with the double
purpose of keeping down the vegetation and discouraging
the Glossina palpalis, whose presence on the shores has so
largely restricted the enjoyment of the lake at Entebbe,
a large area has been planted with lemon grass, of which
the tufts already measured some two feet by five or six in
circumference.

We left by one of the main approaches to the Gardens,
which was bordered by a double row of firs that were
beautiful even for Entebbe, after passing a lawn that
might have been lying in front of an old English home,
well rolled for three hundred years.

Not much remained to complete our arrangements before
starting north, but we had none too much time to spare.

The motor van that was taking us as far as Mubendi,
about 130 miles, was to start at dawn on Thursday. Wed-
nesday, they told us at one time, which would have
meant an uncomfortable dislocation of plans, but it proved
to be a false alarm.

Licences and permits had to be procured, a few more
purchases made, photographs to be rescued from the local
expert, Alidina Visram's cheque cashed, and arrangements
if possible made by which we could cash up-country any
others of the kind that might come our way in exchange
for our ivory.

The second and third presented no great difficulties,
the first revealed to us rather an amusing anomaly in the
laws of the country, and the last-named nearly resulted in
a painful fiasco.

The anomalous feature of the licence negotiations con-
sisted in the necessity of paying the exorbitant sum of
Rs.5 for a licence to kill birds, when for a trifle of ;^8o
one had secured permission to kill two elephants and
every other quadruped in the country except eland and a
few other fauna that probably do not exist. We were able

140 THROUGH THE HEART OF AFRICA

to appreciate the feelings of the sportsman who, having
been similarly bled, returned to the office and humbly
asked if any other payment would be required for per-
mission to kill mosquitoes.

Alidina had scored off us — or rather we had allowed
him to score of¥ us by inadvertently accepting his draft
on three days' sight. As the document was written in a
combination of Ki-Swahili, Hindustani, and other unknown
tongues there may have been some excuse for us, but at
all events the net result was that the Entebbe branch obsti-
nately refused to convert it into cash — except at 5 per cent,
discount, which seemed rather irrelevant — until two days
after we had left Entebbe. Argument with a pock-marked
and oily Hindu who was not even manager at the local
emporium was obviously futile, so with a few expressions
of pained surprise, and of wonder that under the circum-
stances it would advance any worthy cause for him to gaze
for three days at a dirty piece of paper ornamented with
his Mwanza colleague's favourite hieroglyphics, we tried the
National Bank of India, and were much relieved to find
that the manager was willing to cash it without any elabo-
rate delays. The arrangements for cash up-country seemed
unlikely to result in any difficulty, and we felt solvent once
more.

There still remained the task of excavating our baggage
from the Customs sheds: but it was eventually accomplished
with the assistance and co-operation of the Customs Officer,
who added to his kindness by giving us the opportunity of
judging the prosperity and progress of the country by an
examination of the Customs returns for the past few years.
One of our assorted packages of equipment, by the way,
had been adopted by a honeymoon couple of rats during
its sojourn in the shed, and the discovery was signalised by
the funeral of fourteen promising youngsters.

After these exertions the situation indicated some form
of recreation, and the evening was spent in a short but
pleasant game of golf on a turf links, that seemed to us
ridiculously good for Central Africa, but which we were
assured were not nearly as good as those at Kampala.

ENTEBBE AND MUBENDI

141

The latter had been laid out on a patch of land that, as
little as four years ago, had been a mass of elephant grass
(of which more anon), and now, after being first cleared,
then lying under a sweet potato crop for a year, and then
sown with grass, constituted a course that would not have
been discreditable to a South England watering-place.

Our opponent was Mr. J. F. Cunningham, of the Secre-
tariat, who had been one of the first comers to the country
as a member of Sir Harry Johnston's staff. He also evinced
a great interest in the ethnographical notes collected on
our journey, as would be expected in one who has himself
published a work on the customs and the history of the
natives of Uganda. Wednesday was devoted to re-sorting
and re-packing a few boxes, confirming motor-transport
arrangements, a view of the Treasurer's strong-room full
of elephant tusks, amongst which was a pair of over 150 lbs.
weight each, lunching, golfing and leave-taking at the
Club.

Our stay in Entebbe had been an interlude which we
shall remember with as much pleasure as any section of
our journey from its beginning to its end. Assistance
and advice had been given as soon as asked with a readiness
that it w'ould be difficult to over-appreciate, and every one
with whom we had come in contact, from our host down-
wards, had welcomed us with a cordiality that made us feel
as if we were amongst old friends.

The gaiety of Nairobi in race-week, though entirely
enjoyable, had been a trifle too exuberant to be taken in
more than homoeopathic doses, and it was with no small
regret — except that we knew we wanted to be trekking
again — that we had to tear ourselves away from the tranquil
and recuperative atmosphere of Entebbe society and its
Club.

The Government motor-lorry did not call for us till
about nine o'clock after all, and it was nearly an hour more
before we had stowed away ourselves and our baggage
and were ready to make a start. Though we had it almost
to ourselves, it was a considerably smaller vehicle than the
Nairobi vans, weighing i| tons empty, and capable of

142 THROUGH THE HEART OF AFRICA

carrying 25 cwt. of baggage, besides four passengers and
the driver.

Our impedimenta must have come to about 3000
lbs.; for a part of the journey there were two other pas-
sengers with a Httle baggage, and there were four or five
native servants. However, it was all packed in and piled
on somehow, though the top layers, mostly chairs, tents,
tables, and buckets, which depended chiefly on a few stray
ropes for their security, were to cause us a good deal of
anxiety and tribulation before we had got very far. Our
own staf¥ still consisted of the two Rhodesian boys we
had taken with us into British East Africa ; those who
had been left at Entebbe had been forwarded, as we had
requested, by road, to await us at Mubendi.

The car only boasted engines of sixteen horse-power,
but we had been making very fair headway along the
excellent road between Entebbe and Kampala, when it
suddenly dawned upon us that all our property had not
been piled on ; we had left our bicycles behind ! Fortu-
nately there is telephonic communication between Entebbe
and Kampala, and though we were not going to pass through
the latter place, a boy could probably be found on the
outskirts who could be sent in with a message, and there
was a good chance that either at Entebbe or Kampala a
couple of natives could be found sufficiently accomplished
to ride our machines out to Mubendi.

At two miles from the native capital an intelligent
native was encountered who was willing to take a note in to
the transport manager, and just at that moment the rain
came down. It was the genuine tropical downpour, and
though it lasted less than an hour, it was soon obvious,
even before we had lost sight of the charred ruins of
Namulembe Cathedral (destroyed by lightning three weeks
before), that we should not, as we had hoped, be able to
make the half-way resthouse to Mubendi that day.

The road all the way from Entebbe was really a
remarkable bit of work. Broad enough nearly its whole
length for two motor vans to pass abreast, it was
edged by a wide margin, cleared of vegetation, which had

ENTEBBE AND MUBENDI 143

been taken advantage of by the natives for the cultivation
of sweet potatoes and similar crops. The highway itself
was metalled, bridged, and culverted all the way. The
bridges were of stout railway-sleeper timber on piers of
cemented stone, and the culverts which crossed the road
every few hundred yards were constructed of lumps of
local rock firmly cemented together. Considering the
number and substantial nature of these bridges and
culverts, and the fact that it was metalled throughout, it is
not surprising that a road for heavy motor traffic now
carved through the densest of tropical jungles, now raised
on solid causeways through spongy and yielding papyrus
swamps, and often cut out of hillsides with a slope of forty-
live degrees or more, was constructed at an initial cost of
something like ;^i5o per mile, and had recently been
repaired at nearly a third of that sum.

The existence of this artery, and the fact that the
traffic upon it is already remunerative, is in itself a proof
of the country's natural resources and the enterprise with
which they are being exploited.

The efficient maintenance of such a road is attended
with difficulties which exist in but few other countries.
It passes over a variety of soils and a variety of gradients,
while the rapid growth of the rank vegetation, and the
heavy rains which fall twice in the year, are factors that no
amount of surface metalling or the most thorough drainage
system will permanently withstand. Small grounds for
wonder, then, that after the recent rains the soft clay soil
on some of the jungle gradients should have absorbed the
top dressing and proved almost more than our van, with
its exceptionally heavy load and its rather inadequate
power, was able to manage.

We had not, as a matter of fact, covered more than 44
miles when our driver warned us that we ought to camp
where we were by the roadside if we wanted to get our
tents pitched before dark. Recognising the soundness of
his advice, we got to work with as little delay as possible.

It was hardly an ideal spot for camping under any
circumstances, and in the absence of the usual gang of

144 THROUGH THE HEART OF AFRICA

carriers to clear the undergrowth, pitch the tents, fetch
firewood and water, and do a hundred other irksome but
necessary Httle duties, we had about as tough a job as we
could wish for.

Some forty yards from the road we found a spot
v/hich, if it had nothing else to recommend it, was clear
of trees and comparatively level. With but one hoe there
was no time to do more than just scuffle a couple of
patches for our tents, while the rest of the grass, which
was waist high and sopping wet, had to be brushed aside
or trodden down as we came to it. The water supply
was close at hand, for we were almost on the edge of a
swamp, but firewood presented a real difficulty. Incredible
as it may seem to those who know Rhodesia and such
countries in Central and South Africa, where the drier
atmosphere and the regular bush fires, not to mention
the natives' tree-looping methods of cultivation, provide
the traveller with an ample supply of fuel on every side,
there simply was not a dead tree or stick anywhere to be
found. The prospect was not brilliant, but with a few
pieces of packing cases, a few logs of green wood, and
some candle-ends we eventually managed a fire which,
while it did not succeed in adding materially to the
cheerfulness of the scene, proved just equal to the simple
culinary operations that the occasion demanded. Our
fellow-passengers, two brothers named Outram, had
naturally been expecting to reach their destination, which
was only about ten miles farther on, without halting cji
route, and were unprovided with tents or camping equip-
ment. Fortunately they were able to make themselves
fairly comfortable with our second tent, and our spare
fly on which to lay their bedding, though, without a
mosquito curtain, their night's rest could hardly have been
described as undisturbed, nor indeed could ours : if this
was a sample of an average night in Uganda, we did not
feel very enthusiastic about it. As a matter of fact,
though fortunately they were of the cukx and not the
anopheles family, the continuous, combined, and ferocious
attacks of those mosquitoes from sunset till sunrise were

ENTEBBE AND MUBENDI 145

unequalled by anything we had experienced before, or
have suffered since, excepting perhaps in some of the
Bangweulu swamps, and at Lado on New Year's Eve.
To us the place will always be known as " mosquito
camp " ; and the fact that we were occasionally able to
raise a mouthful from our plates to our lips without
interruption was probably only due to the fact that we '
plentifully anointed ourselves from time to time from a
bottle of lavender and citronella oil.

This is one of the most effective anti-mosquito mixtures
that is made, and we recommend any one who is exposed
to the attacks of the insects never to be without it. It
is cheaper than pure lavender oil, which is itself very
effective, and lasts quite as long. We constantly dabbed
faces, hands, and ankles with it when seated or camped
in insect-ridden spots, and a small four-ounce bottle,
purchased in October, lasted us right through the re-
mainder of our trip.

Though the afternoon's shower had soaked everything
and sunset was followed by a drenching dew, we fortu-
nately had no more rain during the night, and woke up
feeling comparatively dry. It took some little time
striking camp and re-loading our baggage, which had
been removed from the van for the accommodation of
the driver and his bed, and it was just eight o'clock
before we got going again.

Our first halt was about ten miles on, at a turning up
to a plantation belonging to Mr, Speke, a relative of the
famous explorer, where we dropped the Messrs. Outram.

Our fellow-passengers were visiting the country with
the object of finding some suitable land for planting
purposes. They were much impressed by the vegetation
and appearance of the Uganda soil : they were men who
had done a variety of work in a variety of lands, including
Canada, Australia, New Zealand, and Ceylon, and they
maintained that the fertility of the last-named was not
nearly so great as that of the country they had been
passing through. The plan they were thinking of
adopting, supposing suitable planting land in Uganda to

K

146 THROUGH THE HEART OF AFRICA

be available, was to take up a second plot in the
highlands of the East Africa Protectorate, which they
would also cultivate, and to which they could resort in
turn as they needed a change. The idea seemed to be a
good one. There must be plenty of suitable land in
British East Africa within comparatively easy reach of the
central parts of Uganda, by means of rail, lake, and
motor, and experience shows that, though eminently
suitable for the growing of valuable crops, the greater part
of the latter country has a climate which does not admit
of long-continued residence for Europeans.

The acquisition of land in Uganda proper {i.e. in the
Buganda province of Uganda) is, however, a difficult
matter. To begin with, there is extremely little land
available, as the Government owns hardly any and the
land held by the Baganda cannot be alienated. Of the
small tracts which are available for plantations the Govern-
ment has a few plots which it is prepared to lease to
suitable settlers, but freehold is not granted, the best terms
that a planter can obtain being a 99-year lease. Under
these circumstances it is hardly to be wondered at that
very few settlers have hitherto taken up land in this
province.

Near Mitiana we passed close to the north end of the
beautiful little Lake Isolt, which, though insignificant when
compared with the Great Lakes, is quite a gem ; and at
mile 44 from Kampala, 66 from Entebbe, we had to stop
again : this time to await the same erratic youngster who
had delayed the train at Naivasha, and who had skipped
off the back of the gar to buy some bananas as we
were crawling up a hill. By the time he had completed
his purchase the incline was in our favour again, and
we had been going at ten miles an hour for some-
thing over ten minutes before we discovered his loss.
The invective with which he was naturally greeted seemed
to have hurt his feelings, for in the evening he electrified
us by asking for his pay and permission to return home.
It had not occurred to him that about three tons of van
and baggage could elude him so quickly, and was quite

ENTEBBE AND MUBENDI

147

confident that he would have caught us up again in the
evening — thirty-four miles farther on. Needless to say,
he did not get his pay or his conge, though it took a
little argument to convince him that the middle of
Uganda was not the best place to try and score off us
by sending in his resignation.

Five or six miles from our destination, a slight mis-
hap— the only one that occurred during the journey —
looked for a time as if it was going to prevent us reaching
the second rest-house that night.

In avoiding an open culvert which was in course
of construction or repair, we had to leave the metalled
surface of the road and take to the soft ground at the
side. After the recent rain there was naturally a risk
that our heavily laden car would not get round without
some difficulty, and, sure enough, we stuck when we had
got just half-way. The engine made a noble effort, but
the revolutions of the wheels made matters rather worse
than better, as they only succeeded in digging themselves
a deeper grave without in any way altering the position
of the car. The mud was up to the axle-trees on the
off-side, and we were beginning to think that it was going
to be a case at any rate of unloading or perhaps of
outspanning for the night. Eventually, however, after
the chain had come off twice and had been as often
replaced, after the chauffeur's admirable and habitual
sang-froid had been entirely destroyed by his wallowing
and burrowing operations under the car, when the road
gang had been furiously digging and pulling for half-an-
hour, we threw ourselves on to the rope and pulled her
out. The dog Jock, as we discovered afterwards from
the photograph, rendered valuable assistance by fixing his
teeth in the loin-cloth of the end man on the rope. No
further delays occurred, and we reached Chakakusenga
bungalow at half-past three.

The bungalow consisted of a small two-roomed wood
and iron building standing on piles some four and a half
feet above the ground. Doors and windows were mos-
quito-proofed throughout, and it was furnished with a

148 THROUGH THE HEART OF AFRICA

bed, blankets, tables, and chairs, a complete set of crockery
and kitchen utensils, and^ — -a visitors' book ! There were
kitchen and boys' huts at the back, and a resident native
caretaker. For the use of the house and everything
in it, a charge of Rs.2 per diem was made. Periodical
inspections were made by officers of the Public Works
Department. An embryo vegetable garden provided
us with cabbages and tomatoes, eggs and milk were
obtainable close at hand without any difficulty, and the
night spent in these comfortable quarters was in pleasing
contrast to that passed at " mosquito camp."

Starting again at eight o'clock next morning, our third
and last day's stage was free from rain or long delays, but
not without incident. The road was dry again and fairly
firm ; greater speed was generally possible, and we negoti-
ated nearly all the hills and rises at the first attempt. But
it was not long before we realised that this was no un-
mixed blessing. The driving was skilful, but the road,
though wonderful, was not a Brooklands track, and as
we swayed and jolted round bends and over switchbacks
no known device could have kept our top layer of impedi-
menta permanently in its place or prevented the cargo
from shifting forward and back.

The first thing to go was a camp-table, and as this had
been poised on the top of the hood, its detachment had
only been a matter of time. Fortunately the boys, who
were wedged in some marvellous way between the roof
and the cargo, noticed its flight, and it was rescued — the
damage only two loose screws. Next, half a tent shot off
from behind — why a boy didn't go off with it was a
mystery — and then a bundle of bedding, but the staff
were on the qui vive and nothing escaped unnoticed. In
fact by this time they had more or less detected the weak
spots in the structure, and were doing their best to keep it
together by hanging on to the packages that looked most
like sliding off. The packages were occasionally too much
for them, but a warning shout from behind now and again
reached us in time to stop the car and readjust the balance.

The last thing to elude them was a new bucket. As

ENTEBBE AND MUBENDI 149

we were taking a fresh kick-off to get up an unusually steep
incline, it contrived to slip out sideways through a loose
spot in the hood and fell in front of the back wheel. As
it was no longer a bucket when it emerged, and we had
no use for a coal scoop, we left it behind as a souvenir of
our passage.

But the work of salvaging the gear that was falling off
behind was a mere bagatelle beside the perilous situation
of ourselves and our live stock in front. We were well
below the upper strata, not sitting on it. The car was
admirably impartial in both the direction and force of its
kicks and jolts, and we soon learnt that whenever some-
thing happened astern it would be quickly followed by
trouble forrard. But we had taken the precaution of
stacking the larger and less erratic articles at our im-
mediate backs, and though their displacement looked
occasionally menacing, a push here and a pull there,
when we stopped to find out the damage, seemed to be
all that was required. Deluded we ! Lulled into a false
sense of security by a longish stretch of smooth road,
and by lunch, one of us had lain at full length on the
bench behind the driver, while the other sat comfortably
smoking in the seat at his side ; consoling ourselves with
the reflection that things had settled down, and there
would probably be no more eruptions. But a strange
thing had apparently been taking place in the contents
of that resourceful car. Instead of settling to the bottom,
as is expected of all orthodox masses of objects of various
sizes, the more mobile articles had in some mysterious way
been gradually coming to the top. First a camera de-
scended suddenly on to the nape of some one's neck, then
a cartridge-magazine shot into the small of his back, and
the climax seemed to have been reached when the larger
of our two luncheon baskets violently deposited itself on
to the waistband of the post-prandial sleeper. But it
had not. Five minutes later, when we were all once
more awake to the possibilities of the situation, though
feeling philosophically resigned to our inability to antici-
pate them, a volcanic concussion and a sensation that the

ISO THROUGH THE HEART OF AFRICA

world was staggering to disruption over our heads, was
followed by the piercing yells of one of the dogs from
underneath the front seat. There had been a combined
effort on the part of the cargo : everything had shifted
about a foot, and the seat carried away from its bearings,
and, with fourteen stone of living weight and half a
hundredweight of camp equipment on the top of it, had
settled down on the top of the unfortunate Jock, and was
apparently flattening him on a small box on to which he
had crawled to avoid the vibration that he and Nyunshi
so heartily detested. As his howls died away into a
pathetic whimper before we could extricate him, it looked
as if he was done for ; but five minutes later our strenuous
exertions were rewarded with success, and he emerged,
frightened, but not a whit the worse.

No further catastrophes occurred, and in less than an
hour our suspense was at an end as we pulled up at the
foot of Mubendi hill at half-past one on October the 22nd.

The last few miles had been up a tortuous incline,
through a strikingly beautiful forest, affording an example
of perhaps the finest bit of engineering on the whole of
this remarkable road.

There was a suitable spot for our camp right where
we halted. The four members of the staff, Chumamaboko
the hunter, Saidi, Bakali, and Nkamba, had already arrived
from Entebbe, and with them, curiously enough, two
Northern Rhodesia boys, named Kamata and Yamba-
yamba, who said they had been brought all the way up
from the " Star of the Congo " near Elisabethville by two
Europeans of sorts, and then incontinently abandoned at
Entebbe, about a month before, on their employers leaving
Uganda vm Victoria Nyanza. We took them on as kitchen
helps and bicycle runilers — a chance of earning their re-
patriation which the poor beggars had hardly expected,
and seemed to appreciate.

The District Commissioner was away, but a telephone
message from Entebbe through the Provincial Commis-
sioner, Kampala, had come through, and the Indian clerk
had already secured about half the gang of carriers we

ENTEBBE AND MUBENDI 151

needed. We pitched our camp right where we had drawn
up, on a grass patch at the corner of the Toro road and
the ascent to the Boma hill ; the spacious porch of a
cotton store of Hansing's just across the road afforded
shelter for ourselves and our loads from the heavy rain
which fell before our tents were up.

In the afternoon we learnt that the Acting Governor,,
Mr. Stanley Tomkins, with Mrs. Tomkins, who were on
their way to Toro, were at the Boma, and heard from
Dr. Owen, who was in attendance, that a message had
arrived from Kampala to the effect that our bicycles
were on the way. They arrived next morning more or
less intact, ridden by two exhausted native youths from
Kampala. As it was quite inconceivable that they could
have travelled safely with the rest of our kit on the
motor-van, things had turned out rather satisfactorily.

The motor-van left again for Kampala early the
following morning partially loaded with bales of raw
cotton purchased by Hansing's agent from the local
natives, whom we had seen bringing a few bundles in
for sale during the afternoon.

Sunday morning was devoted to the bringing of our
accounts up to date and to the writing of our diaries,
which we had been keeping day by day since we started.

The afternoon till five o'clock was spent at the Boma,
whither Mr. Tomkins, in reply to a suggestion that we
might come and pay our respects, had invited us to
lunch. The simplicity and heartiness of our welcome
by our host and hostess, as well as the opportunity of
enjoying discussion and exchange of views on the problems
and prospects of this country and our own, made the
day one of the pleasantest we spent in a country where
every one was pleasant.

The District Commissioner's house is substantially
built, on a plan well suited to the climate, and in a
magnificent position. Placed on the very summit of
one of a group of more or less isolated hills it affords
a glorious view of the country on all sides, particularly
in the northerly and westerly directions and towards

152 THROUGH THE HEART OF AFRICA

Ruwenzori. From the point of view of convenience its
position is not perhaps so ideal. We ascended to it by
a bridle-path cut more or less directly in the face of
the hill. The distance from the foot was a mile and
a half, and took us forty-five minutes. The descent —
on bicycles which we had had pushed up by boys —
by the carriage-road of two miles and a half took us
twelve minutes, with both brakes hard on all the way.

The following morning nearly our full tale of porters
had been procured, but as we did not want to start
at all short-handed, we decided to give the balance
another day and ourselves an opportunity of completing
preparations.

A few punctures had to be mended, and a nearly
worn-out tyre replaced ; our loads had mostly been
re-sorted the day before, but could do with a little more
readjustment, and the remainder of our leisure was
devoted to the examination and arrangement of the
photographs that we had had printed in Entebbe and
Nairobi.

We engaged here an amiable and intelligent-looking
Munyoro native named Musa, who had been, in a previous
existence, a bricklayer and, subsequently, apparently a
rather reliable gun-bearer. As his testimonials from
his last employers (who, he declared, had each shot two
colossal elephants under his guidance) told how he had
stood his ground in a tight corner when their professional
hunters had sought safety, we felt rather inclined to give
him a trial. And, as a matter of fact, he did, later,
behave in exactly the same way with us in precisely
identical circumstances.

Before nightfall our gang of carriers was complete
and everything was ready for a start next morning. The
local Mwatni or chief, who had produced them, carefully
expounded to them the period and terms of their engage-
ment with us, and the deference with which they listened
to his explanation was a striking proof of the standing
of the chiefs among their people in Uganda. Those
who were going with us were mostly Baganda, and the

The FrsKST bit of exgineerinc; on the road.

MRS. TOMKINS. IJR. OWEN*.

Mr. Stanley Tomkins, Ag. Governor of Uganda.

ENTEBBE AND MUBENDI 153

conditions were that they should accompany us for a
couple of months, more or less, while shooting, and
eventually get paid off wherever we happened to have
got to — probably Butiaba. The extent to which they
adhered to the bargain will be seen later.

The boy Kasonde had an unpleasant experience in
the evening, which might have had serious consequences.
While pounding some lumps of calcium carbide for an
acetylene lamp, a small piece of it flew into his eye.
He started rolling about on the ground, evidently in
acute pain. Considering its properties it was rather a
problem as to how to deal with it. Chumamaboko,
though of course ignorant of the exact situation, showed
great resource and presence of mind, and probably did
the best thing possible by promptly seizing him and
sucking the affected optic. Probably only a speck had
reached it, for in about half-an-hour, after the insertion
of a few drops of sweet oil, the victim had completely
recovered.

XI

MUBENDI TO HOIMA

Our new carriers — A chief's house and garden — The civihsation of the
Baganda — System of feeding carriers — Rate of pay — Agricultural
development — The cotton industry — A native market — Bukumi
mission — Elephant grass — Our camp — Crossing a swamp — Hoima —
Ivory poaching in the Congo — A Nubian wedding at the military
camp — Marriage laws of the Banyoro — Land settlement and com-
munications in the Bunyoro province — Missions at Hoima — Start for
Bugoma.

An early rise, our last breakfast at Mubendi, and we settled
down to the work of allotting our loads to our new
carriers. Our incursion into civilisation, the division of
our kit necessitated by it, and the purchase of new stores
had disorganised matters a little, and it was a quarter past
ten before we moved out on the trail again, though our
new carriers were very orderly and amenable, and every-
thing went as smoothly as possible. We started on this
stage with a caravan of sixty-four porters, counting the
two Wawemba waifs who were written on as bicycle boys,
and two more for carrying chairs, besides the newly en-
gaged Musa and our own Rhodesian staff of six, making
a total of seventy-one.

Our route to begin with lay down the Kampala road,
along which we cycled, side by side for the first time since
our ride from Abercorn to Kawimbe. After a couple of
miles we turned off sharp to the north on an excellent
carriers' track some ten to twelve feet broad, which had a
good surface for cycling and was particularly well em-
banked in the swamps. The road was hilly and often
made it necessary to dismount, but these intervals of walk-
ing were not too frequent, and only provided a welcome
change of exercise. The soil on either side was very

154

MUBENDI TO HOIMA

155

fertile and the vegetation rank and dense ; fresh buffalo
spoor attracted our attention a mile or two out, but a
country more hopeless for this particular branch of hunt-
ing it would be hard to find, and we went on without
investigating its possibilities.

After a couple of hours we came to a group of villages
under the local district chief, Yekula. His own dwelling
was a fine two-storied building placed in well-arranged
gardens containing cotton, coffee, and other tropical pro-
ducts, all in a flourishing condition and surrounded by an
elaborate fence of plaited reeds. Everything was well
laid out, and looked more like the abode of a European
than of an African native, though, as we were to see in
the course of our wanderings, it was nothing out of the
way for a Muganda chief. The camping-ground was a
little farther on, and hard by some of the local Baganda
were engaged in a fierce argument as to the measurements
of a bean-field, an incident that amused and interested us,
accustomed as we were to none but the most haphazard
allotment of gardens.

Even at this early stage we were much impressed by
the Baganda, who show an advanced stage of development
remarkable in a Bantu people ; and we continually met
fresh examples confirming the impression. They earn large
sums of money by the cultivation and sale of cotton,
coft"ee, and other crops, and appear not only to know the
value of everything, but to realise, as few African natives
do, that an article is worth more when it has been trans-
ported for some distance than it is at the place of origin.
The feeding of carriers is simplicity itself. Each man
receives an allowance of two cents (roughly a third of a
penny) a day ; and, on arrival at a camp, the traveller
sends a message to the local chief informing him how
many men he has to feed, in response to which the chief
collects the requisite number of bundles of food, and brings
them round at about sunset. These bundles contain
bananas — which form the staple food of the country —
sweet potatoes or beans, attached to which are smaller
packets containing herbs, which serve as a side-dish.

156 THROUGH THE HEART OF AFRICA

Unless the order has been given too late, the food is
generally brought ready cooked, which saves the carriers
from being embarrassed with additional weight in the
shape of cook-pots. The average bundles are worth one
cent (a sixth of a penny) each, and as one usually con-
tains sufficient food for one day, the carriers can often
save half of their food allowance.

The rate of pay in Uganda is reckoned everywhere
at Rs.3.60 (4s. 8|d.) a month, inclusive of the food allow-
ance (60 cents). This is as low as anywhere else in
Africa ; similar work in North-Eastern Rhodesia, where
labour is also cheap, costs 5s. 2d. a month, of which
IS. 2d. is the food allowance.

At Mubendi it was the local chief's "secretary"
who produced our carriers, with a complete list of
their, names, districts, and chiefs, explaining to us to which
of the latter we should complain in each case if one
deserted — a good example of the way in which the
administrative organisation of the Baganda, beginning
with a king, ministry, and parliament, reaches and per-
vades the lower grades and is felt in daily relations with
the people.

Next to the general organisation the most impressive
feature is the agricultural development of this tribe, which
is far more advanced than that of any natives we en-
countered in other parts. Nevertheless, a country like
Uganda, which is probably equal to any country in the
world for the growth of tropical products such as rubber,
coffee, cocoa, and sugar, is really largely wasted even with
a fairly dense population possessing exceptional energy
and intelligence ; for though they make much, if not the
utmost possible, of such land as they cultivate, there
remain large areas eminently suitable for plantations which
are at present entirely untouched, and produce nothing
but elephant grass and other rank vegetation. No one
would wish to hustle a people who, like the Baganda,
present a probably unique opportunity for the growth of
an African State, but it is a thousand pities that something
cannot be done with the large areas that they themselves

Fkn'cim; Yekti.a's (iakden.

Allotting our loads to carriers at Mubenui.

MUBENDI TO HOIMA

157

are unable to develop. The natives, for instance, might
be required to show a certain degree of development or
improvement within a certain period in the land over
which they hold rights, failing which their proprietorship
should lapse — a remedy which we gathered had long since
been suggested, but for some reason has not been carried
into effect. Another point that suggests itself is the
possible risk attending the now flourishing cotton industry.
The amount of cotton grown in and exported from the
Protectorate is increasing annually by leaps and bounds.
It is all grown by the natives and sold by them to Euro-
pean and Indian traders. The selling price of the raw
cotton is not fixed, as competition has proved this to be
impracticable, and so long as prices keep up this will
not matter ; but unless the Baganda are even more re-
markable than they appear to be, a sudden fall in price
might deal a serious blow to, if it did not actually destroy,
this flourishing industry ; for a native who has grown
accustomed to a certain high scale is not only apt to
be discouraged at a drop of, say, 25 per cent, in his
earnings, but is liable to suspect that it is but the pre-
lude to a further one, and, regarding it as no longer
worth his while, he may decline to continue growing
cotton.

The ordinary laws of supply and demand do not
apply to the industry of the Central African native. As a
general rule he wants no money — or very little. Among
the Baganda chiefs there are certainly many who enjoy
a regular income and have got used to spending it, but
these derive it from other sources. If such a fall in
the market value of the cotton should occur it may prove
necessary to guarantee some minimum price in the lean
years rather than risk the principal source of wealth in
the Protectorate.

After cycling for an hour and forty minutes on the
following day we came to a good native market under
some shady trees, where we found natives selling bananas,
sweet potatoes, kaffir corn, sugar-cane, tobacco, salt,
lentils, meat, rope, mats, and bark-cloth. Of the last-

158 THROUGH THE HEART OF AFRICA

named we purchased a large piece — chiefly for re-covering
our water-bottles — for 85 cents (is. id.), our only other
purchase being a pint of lentils for 8 cents (a trifle over
id). Just after leaving this wayside market a bad punc-
ture delayed us for a quarter of an hour, but before very
long — after two hours twenty-five minutes nett cycling
from the start — we reached a place which Musa told us
was our camp. This annoyed us somewhat, as, though
we had been warned not to expect too much from Uganda
carriers, thirteen miles easy going seemed a trifle too
short. However, we accepted the situation for once, and
decided to stop.

It certainly was a comfortable enough camp, with two
open-walled shelters, kitchen hut and boys' quarters, in a
large cleared space, in the centre of which stood a roomy
and well-built wattle and daub building, which we were
informed was the court-house of the local chief, whose
name was Eloma. It had a large open doorway in the
front, two more at the side, two or three smaller compart-
ments, while the principal chamber was furnished with a
dais for the "judge's" chair.

Eloma paid a call upon us shortly after our arrival,
bringing his own chair, on which, after a greeting and a
murmured request which seemed to mean, " I will sit down
if I may," he took his seat.

He was a most courteous and intelligent old gentleman,
and after a few minutes' conversation, in which he told us,
in reply to inquiries, that there were elephants two days
ahead of us, he rose and took his leave as gracefully as he
had introduced himself. The courtesy and friendliness of
natives of all classes was rather striking. All whom we
encountered or passed on the road greeted us cordially and
respectfully, generally bowing and bending the head, and
at the same time removing the fez cap that is generally
worn. We saw some pine-apples in the native gardens,
and passed some wild raspberry bushes, on which, how-
ever, the fruit had not yet formed. The country was
undulating with granite kopjes in the hillsides and very
long grass even on the summits of the hills. The carriers

The Dwelling-house, Bukuml

MUBENDI TO HOIMA

159

had mostly been using an old road which was more
direct though much more of a switchback than the new
one, while we used the latter for the sake of its easier
gradients, which we could generally manage without dis-
mounting.

The next morning, after an hour and ten minutes alter-
nately cycling and walking, we reached Bukumi Mission,
a post of the French Fathers, the existence of which was
a surprise to us. The buildings, which were erected in
1904, are of sun-dried bricks, with thatched roofs, and
excellent of their kind. With additional excuse of a fresh
puncture we called upon the Peres,, and found ourselves
welcomed with great cordiality by the Superior, Pere
Tomaselli Santo, a missionary of twelve years' residence in
Uganda who had been at Bukumi when it was besieged
during the rebellion. This post is the centre of a large
district with 7000 baptized natives controlled by a staff of
four " Fathers." We received welcome assistance in the
shape of an itinerary as far as Hoima, and an equally
welcome gift in the shape of a supply of cabbages, carrots,
turnips, and beetroot. An hour after leaving the mission
we found all our carriers settled down for the day at the
next camping-place, but we came to the conclusion that it
was time to assert ourselves, and informed them in as
simple and direct a manner as possible that we were only
going to halt for lunch and intended camping at Kauwa,
the place indicated on Pere Santo's itinerary. They had
already unhitched their loads and were making themselves
comfortable for the rest of the day, so our announcement
was received without much enthusiasm. However, they
obeyed, and with but little demur, and in spite of our halt
at the mission and again for lunch, we reached camp by
three o'clock, and all the loads were in before four : nor
were any complaints made at the length of the twenty-one
mile trek.

The next day we camped at Akanasi, seventeen miles
on. For some two miles before reaching it, the road was
plentifully pitted with hyena and lion spoor, some of it
quite fresh, and we wondered if we were going to have a

i6o THROUGH THE HEART OF AFRICA

chance of bagging anything. As a matter of fact, Hons did
visit us, and the uneasiness and excitement of the dogs, who
were barking and making occasional rushes at the long
grass at the side of the camping-ground between nine and
ten o'clock, probably meant that they were lurking close at
hand. However, they did not reveal themselves, and it was
only in the morning that we learnt from the natives that
during the night they had been heard grunting somewhere
a little way down the road, and that their fresh spoor
showed them to have come right into the camp and within
a few yards of our tents. Chuma said there had been
several of them, but he was probably more impressed by
the variety of their tones than by the plentifulness of their
tracks. We protested that the boys might have called us
when the beasts were obviously pretty close, but Chuma
seemed to think that that was the very last thing to have
done.

It was at this camp that we first had an example of the
ease and rapidity with which our carriers erected grass
shelters for themselves, without the aid of any but the
slenderest sticks, and sometimes with none at all. With
very little timber close at hand they had learnt to do
without it, and in many cases made their little huts entirely
of grass, framework as well as thatch. The grass so used
is, of course, the " elephant grass " which grows to a height
of twenty feet and more, and boasts a reed-like stalk on
which it is quite possible to bark the shins. In some
cases the tall stalks on the outer edge of a thick clump of
this grass are simply pulled together and tied at the top,
so forming a framework of walls and roof over which the
thinner grass is laid to form side-screens and roof. In
other cases the stalks are collected and driven into the
ground and utilised as before. Those shelters would spring
up round the camp in a marvellously short space of time.
Our camp itself was usually formed by placing our tents
more or less facing each other ; one of them was fur-
nished with an extension in the shape of an extra fly
which served at times as a dining-room, and in which most
of our spare loads were stacked. Chairs and tables would

MUBENDI TO HOIMA

i6i

be, as a rule, in the ^'banda" — the reed-and-grass shelter
which was an almost invariable feature of the camps and
chiefs' compounds in Uganda — while our tents were left
as empty as possible of everything except a bed and a
small table, boxes containing clothes and immediate neces-
sities, firearms and cameras. Close to the tents and the
servants' shelters or huts was erected a small bucksail
which served as a kitchen, the heavy rains often making it
impossible to get a temporary one built where there was
nothing already in existence.

Between our two tents or, if the wind was unfavourable,
a little to one side a large fire was lit, and was supposed
to be kept burning. If, as occasionally happened, every
one went to sleep, it went out, and sometimes, e.g. in
German East Africa when there was a dearth of firewood,
we had to do without it altogether. Each carrier had to
contribute his share of fuel, by making one or sometimes
two journeys into the bush and returning with a load of
sticks or logs. It would sometimes happen that, feeling a
little lazy, they would shirk the duty and retire after bring-
ing a dozen logs or so. This was easily remedied by the
simple course of waiting till they had settled down for the
night, each group with its own fire and a good stock of
firewood, and then going round with one or two of the
staff and a "munyampala" or so — who thoroughly en-
joyed the job — and transferring their whole supply to our
pile. We had no need, as a rule, to do it more than once
with the same gang of carriers. The camp fire is an item
of no small importance. Besides affording quite fre-
quently needed warmth — especially after a day's elephant
hunting in the rain — and a useful meed of protection
at night, some of the pleasantest hours of the day are
those spent lolling in an easy-chair in its comforting
blaze either just before dinner or for an hour or so ere
turning in for the night.

With our own Rhodesian staff as a nucleus, and the
headmen engaged at different times, such as Musa, who
was with us at this stage, the carriers very soon fell into
the way of arranging things according to our ideas, and

L

1 62 THROUGH THE HEART OF AP^RICA

did their work in the smooth and automatic way which is
so conducive to camp comfort.

The day before reaching Hoima we had to cross a
bad swamp early in the morning. It was formed by a
tributary of the Kavu River, which at this point takes a
sharp bend, and was about a third of a mile across, and
much too deep to ford. There were no canoes, but we
and our loads were ferried across on rafts made of
papyrus stalks. These are slow, heavy, and clumsy craft,
but they have the advantage of being comparatively dry
and safe, and practically non-capsizable, besides accom-
modating many more loads than the average canoe. The
crossing occupied nearly three hours, but the beauty of
the rising sun dispelling the early morning mist, and the
cunning with which one of the natives ferried us across,
helped to modify the tedium of delay. This unfortunate
old gentleman had, besides minor facial mutilations,
suffered amputation of both hands at the wrist — presum-
ably a punishment by his chief for some trivial offence in
his almost forgotten youth — and the way in which he
wielded his punt-pole with his skinny arm stumps, mainly
by gripping it in his elbow-joint, was a thing to admire
and remember.

We heard hippo grunting somewhere in the swamp,
but they remained hidden. The elephants of which
Eloma had told us did not come to anything. There had
evidently been plenty of them crossing and recrossing the
road, sometimes within a few hours of our passing, but as
the herd apparently consisted of nothing but cows, calves,
and small bulls, w^e wasted no time in following them. Of
smaller game we saw no trace whatever.

Hoima, the administrative centre of the Bunyoro
province, we reached at half-past nine on the 30th of
October. It is well situated on high ground, with hills on
three sides, and on the fourth, to the west, can be seen the
mountains of the Belgian Congo, on the far side of the
Albert Nyanza, which is not itself visible, as it lies too low.
We went up to call on the District Commissioner, Mr. T.
Grant, who had been advised of our journey by our

MUBENDI TO HOIMA 163

friends at Entebbe. He extended a cordial welcome, bade
us pitch our tents close to his house, and invited us to take
our meals with him during our stay. More than this, he
at once set about making inquiries as to elephants, and
wrote to the Assistant District Commissioner at Masindi
asking him to do the same.

Without a map before them the majority of readers
probably do not realise the enormous length of the
eastern border of the Belgian Congo.

Beginning as it does on the west of Northern Rhodesia
far south of the points from which we had started, it was
with something akin to a thrill at its immensity that we
found ourselves still travelling alongside of it in the Hoima
district of Bunyoro in Central Uganda ; even then we had
not reached the end of it, as for more than sixty miles
farther it is still the neighbour of the Protectorate, and
then inclining west lies on the borders of the Lado province
of the Soudan for nearly another two hundred miles.

Its mere hugeness may supply a reason, though not
an adequate one, for the difficulty of effectively adminis-
tering the territory from end to end. That considerable
portions of it, nominally under control, are still hardly
administered at all is a matter of common knowledge, and
it now made our mouths water, now filled us with shame
to listen to the tales that were told us of the opportunities
that lay under our very noses, as it were, for an enter-
prising elephant hunter untroubled with too scrupulous
a sense of the fitness of taking advantage of the weakness
or apathy of a neighbouring nation. There seemed, in
fact, to be little if any difference between the conditions
obtaining in the Congo territory just west of Albert Nyanza
and those in the Lado Enclave after the lapse of its tenancy
on the death of King Leopold and before its incorporation
in Soudanese territory.

It was a happy hunting-ground for all and sundry who
cared to try their luck and take their risks. Risks there
were, of course ; while some had made small fortunes,
others had come out with less than what they had taken in.
One successful filibuster had within the last twelve months

164 THROUGH THE HEART OF AFRICA

obtained some two and a half tons of valuable ivory.
Another who, after securing nearly as good a prize, made
the inexcusable mistake of being caught by and compelled
to disgorge his ivory and his battery to the Belgian
authorities, returned to the British territory, borrowed a
cheap rifle, and within three days of his re-entry into
the Congo had made good his losses with a bag of seven-
teen big bull elephants. The victim in this instance
must either have shown a lamentable want of tact or been
unfortunate in underrating the calibre of the dignitary
whom he met, for there seems to be evidence that in
other cases a very little well-placed diplomacy has been
sufficient to soothe the suspicions of an indignant Belgian
official and induce him to turn a blind eye to the depre-
dations of his visitors. Yet others, not content with their
opportunities in the role of sportsman-poacher, have
added to their gains not only by trading with and pur-
chasing ivory from the natives, but even by the more
economical if less orthodox method of commandeering
ivory and trade goods from the hapless emissaries of some
Indian traders on the British side, who, being poachers
themselves in a territory where might was right, had no
redress.

More recently, it should be said, the conditions have
somewhat modified. Prizes are not secured with the ease
that formerly marked a trip across the border. But it is
difficult to say whether the reason is not merely that the
elephants, which are, of course, the chief attraction, have
shifted westwards, and that the hunter, in consequence,
has to go farther afield.

It sounded tantalising, but, after all, it is not playing
the game, and the Uganda Government is naturally doing
all in its power to discourage the irresponsible free-
booter from ruthlessly exploiting its neighbour's weak-
nesses.

That it is powerless entirely to check the abuses which,
after all, it is somebody else's business to deal with, is
sufficiently obvious, and we had sufficient proof of the
fact that the trade in smuggled Congo ivory is by no

Ferrying our loads across a swamp on papyrus rafts.

MUBENDI TO HOIMA 165

means dormant. An important firm of Indian traders at
Hoima told us that they were expecting a caravan of tusks
amounting to over three thousand pounds' weight in all,
and that they were receiving a similar consignment about
twice a month. All was coming down the Nile to Butiaba,
the port on Lake Albert, and all was frankly admitted to
be poached from Congo territory.

The staff at Hoima station at the time of our visit
consisted of the District Commissioner, Mr. Thomas Grant,
the Medical Officer, Dr. Strathairn, with some subordinate
officials, besides two subalterns, Messrs. Trewin and
Carew, officers in charge of a detachment of the King's
African Rifles. This detachment is a company of the
Nubian battalion, and is composed of natives from Soudanese
territory, who are entirely distinct in many salient features
from the local population. They are exceptionally black,
broad-faced and thick-lipped, and the faces of both men
and women are somewhat unusually disfigured by gashes
rather than tattoo marks. The coiffure of the women is
quite different to anything that we had seen farther south.
The hair is allowed to grow long at the back and curled up at
the ends over the neck. But it was not only because they
presented a contrast to the type of native amongst whom
we have been travelling that we enjoyed an opportunity of
obtaining a glimpse of the Nubian and his family at home.

After dinner with the officers at "Military Hill" on
the evening of our second day at Hoima, it was suggested
that we walk up to the camp and witness a native dance
that was forming a part of a marriage celebration, and was
being carried on for several days. We readily accepted
the invitation, and were presently seated in small arm-
chairs, the property of the police, in an open space between
the huts, with as good a view as it was possible to obtain
of a scene that was only lighted by a couple of hurricane-
lanthorns and a very small fire. For a time the dance
proceeded in much the same style as among the southern
tribes ; the drums, which beat a constant accompaniment,
were placed in the background out of the way of the
dancers, who in two opposite rows, one of men, the other

i66 THROUGH THE HEART OF AFRICA

of women, swayed and shuffled to and fro, generally
without coming into actual contact with one another.

Thus far the performance was poor, and the singing,
provided by a batch of little girls sitting in a group round
the drums, of a most inferior type.

But presently the programme changed. The women
retired from the line, and one by one began to give pas
seuls in the space between the drums and the row of men,
who, now more or less in a line with our chairs, kept up
a swaying stamp of uncouth rhythm, accompanying their
movements with constant grunts. They struck an incon-
gruous note, the men, with their white shirts and trousers
or "kanjus" of white linen, canvas shoes, and, if possible,
cigarettes. The women were naturally and gracefully
robed in flowing cloths, bound tightly round the breasts
below the arm-pits, but loosening ere they reached the
ankles. There were some six or eight of them per-
forming now, finely developed girls of perhaps twenty
years of age, with a magnificent carriage and averaging
rather over than under five feet six inches in height. Less
coarsely suggestive than the typical Bantu dance, there
was a grace and finish in their performance which it is
not easy to describe.

Beginning some fifteen feet from the men, the dancer
stood erect, her head thrown back, with her draperies held
close to her side with one hand. Then by almost im-
perceptible shuffling she gradually approached her vis-a-
vis— the man at whom she had selected to dance — her
whole frame rippling with unceasing sinuous movements
that must have exercised every muscle in her body. As
she drew to within an arm's length the shuffling ceased ;
the back was gradually more and more hollowed and the
body curved further and further till the head was
almost on a level with the buttocks. At this point she
made a momentary pause, during which her vis-d-vts
stepped forward and, with a flourish, touched her lightly
on the breast, murmuring, "Allub" — a word of en-
couragement, compliment, or approval. Thereupon she
straightened herself once more, shuffled sinuously on till

MUBENDI TO HOIMA

167

almost touching her objective, when, suddenly but grace-
fully, she sank in a mixture of prostration and abandon in
a kneeling heap upon the ground. The man she was
dancing at then promptly touched her once more — this
time as if raising her — upon the breast, saying, "Ashmeer
Bilkeer " (apparently meaning something like " You are
the girl for me "), and, rising, the girl quietly returned to
her place, and her performance was at an end.

We each and all of us were danced at three or four
times, and did our best to make the right remark at the
right time, for the failure to do so implies a slight upon
the efficiency or charms of the dancer.

The marriage customs and morals of these natives
present another contrast to those of the tribes of
Northern Rhodesia and kindred races. Nubian girls,
unlike those of the average Bantu peoples, are not, as a
rule, married until they have well passed the age of
puberty, and during their earlier years their chastity is
jealously guarded.^ The dowries, moreover, paid by the
husbands for their wives are considerable, and sometimes
amount to very large sums. We heard of one native non-
commissioned officer having given as much as a thousand
rupees for his bride, while there was a rumour that in
another case the sum had reached fifteen hundred.

In the Baganda and, to a lesser extent, the Banyoro,
we have an instance of Bantu tribes pure and simple, who
contrast favourably with many of the southern tribes.
There is little doubt that their greater intelligence and the
higher social organisation already in existence before the
establishment of British protectorate has rendered easier
to combat the demoralisation that is so likely to occur
among undeveloped natives whose affairs are in a state of
rather violent transition, but the facts are none the less
interesting or instructive. Though not so high as among
the Nubians, the marriage price is considerable and regu-

^ In primo juventutis flore labia majora puellarum liganiento consuta nil nisi
angustissimum meatum relinqiiunt ; itaque illis in matrimonii mysteria inductis
post primam noctem conjux, e thalamo emergens, ut argumentum virginitatis ejus
ligamentum sanguinolentum ostendit. Si tamen vir ligamentum ante nuptias dis-
ruptum invenit, femina pro incasta statim demissa, aliam conjugem plerumque
postulat.

i68 THROUGH THE HEART OF AFRICA

larly paid, and satisfactory proof of the regularity of a
marriage contract, whether according to native, Mahom-
medan, or Christian law, has to be produced before it is
recognised as valid for any purpose whatsoever.

One cannot help contrasting this with the practice of
the Wawemba and their kin. While the " dowry " seldom
amounts to more than a few shillings' worth of goods and
ornaments, as often as not so-called marriages are a matter
of mutual arrangement between the man and the woman
without reference to or even the approval of any one who
might consider themselves concerned.

It follows as a matter of course that divorce or separa-
tion is a matter of equally easy arrangement, and that
" marriage " is liable to degenerate into nothing more than
licensed but haphazard concubinage.

This has not, of course, been always so, and it is only
fair to these tribes to bear in mind that in former times
certain sanctions and conventions were regularly and
strictly observed.

The Government generally is, of course, taking steps
to discourage and prevent the irregularity that has recently
begun to mark connubial relations, but there can be no
doubt that this irregularity is, to a very great degree, the
indirect result of the substitution of the white man's
government for that of the native chiefs and headmen.

The latter have rather naturally been unable to realise
that the loss of most of their administrative and judicial
powers were not intended to involve the destruction of
their authority in social and domestic matters, and the
mistake has been made of regarding these matters as being
none of the white man's business. Since the cession of
their powers to British authority, the chiefs have mostly
regarded every detail of their lives and social relations as
the white man's business, and if therefore we hesitate to
assume the censorship of any part of their conduct which
they have given up, the inevitable result is irregularity and
demoralisation.

Particularly likely is this to occur in the case of tribes
such as the Wawemba, whose chiefs exercised such

MUBENDI TO HOIMA

169

arbitrary control over the inter-marriage of their subjects.
Except in the case of chiefs and their famihes, a male
Muwemba had no choice in the matter of marriage. On
reaching the age at which he thought he would like to wed,
his only course was to apply to the chief, who, if he
approved, would look out for a suitable bride for the
applicant amongst his people. The would-be bridegroom
did not even go as far as to mention any particular indi-
vidual as suiting his taste. It is sufficiently obvious that
the disappearance of this ultra-paternal power of the chiefs,
who have relinquished it without coercion or protest, needs
to be followed by a definite and effective system of control,
if the prevention of moral laxity and social degeneration
is to be secured.^

The methods adopted may in time have the desired
effect, but it is at least interesting to notice the difference
in the conditions prevailing where the old social system
has been encouraged and developed and where it has
first of all been simply allowed to slide.

While at Hoima we learnt something of the local
conditions of land purchase and the prospects for settlers,
which impressed us as being far more favourable than these
obtaining in Buganda. The former, the Bunyoro pro-
vince, suffers from the fact that it lies farther from the
Victoria Nyanza, which, with its steamers and outlet by the
Uganda railway, is easily accessible to the outside world,
but the disadvantages under which it labours in this respect
are being rapidly reduced. The motor road to Mubendi
is already close to its southern borders, and another from
Kampala to Hoima is projected, while the Jinja-Kakindu
railway is in course of construction. This railway starts
at Jinja by the Ripon Falls, and will go to Kakindu at the
south end of Lake Chioga, where navigable water is again
met with. Steamers already run from this point to
Kishilisi (Port Masindi), near the abandoned Maruli

^ So in South Africa also. "The clan system took in hand the regulation of
the intercourse of the sexes, and until Europeans broke up the clan system this
restraint was wonderfully effective within certain limits" — Dudley Kidd, Kafir
Socialism. Cf. also : " There is need of the utmost caution not to provoke
•unrest and discontent by rooting up prevaihng systems until the native mind is
prepared and effective substitutes are in readiness " — Sir Godfrey Lagden.

lyo THROUGH THE HEART OF AFRICA

station, to Palango and Foweira, near which the navigable
waters are again interrupted by rapids which culminate in
the Murchison Falls. A motor road is being built from
Kishilisi to Masindi, and this will be carried on to Hoima,
giving an easy outlet to the produce of a large section of
the Bunyoro province. It is further hoped to carry on the
rail and river connection from a point near Foweira to
Fajao or Butiaba, whence steamers already run to Nimule,
on the Bahr el Gebel, and thence no doubt a further line
will be laid down to connect with the Soudan steamers at
Gondokoro. The cost of these connecting railroads is
estimated at -^4000 per mile.

The undoubted intention of the Government to im-
prove communications in this part removes from the
intending planter all fears that he will be unable to export
his produce, and the only remaining considerations are the
quality of the land, rainfall, labour supply, &c., and the
terms on which he can acquire the land. In the course
of the two and a half months following our arrival in
Bunyoro, we travelled incessantly in the province, and
formed a very favourable impression of it. The soil is
indisputably fertile, the rainfall adequate, and labour cheap
and easily obtained. Cattle appear to thrive, and we saw
no tsetse except close to the Victoria Nile opposite
Palango. The climate is by no means unhealthy. In all
of these respects it compares not unfavourably with the
Buganda province ; and in the matter of land purchase
it is far superior. Land in Bunyoro is Crown land, and
freehold can be granted to planters. Instead of the many
difficulties that a planter has to contend with before
obtaining a grant in Buganda, and then only obtaining it
on a 99-year lease, land can be acquired — first on a lease
for three years, for which ten cents per acre per annum is
charged ; and then, if the Government is satisfied with the
development shown, it will be sold outright at Rs.2 per
acre, so that the total cost to the purchaser will be Rs.2. 30
(about 3s. id.) per acre. Under these circumstances it
seems that a planter would do better to buy land in
Bunyoro than to rent it in Buganda.

MUBENDI TO HOIMA 171

We called one afternoon on the Peres Blancs, whose
mission is about a mile and a half from the District Com-
missioner's house. The buildings are of their usual sun-
dried brick, plastered white, resting on a foundation of
ironstone. The dwelling-house is a new and well-con-
structed building, but the church struck us as inferior to
those at Ngaya and Bukumi.

The Father Superior was absent, but we were enter-
tained by Pere Bidourin, a French Canadian, and chatted
with him for half-an-hour, the conversation being mostly
upon the usual Hoima topic — ivory poachers. Hearing
of our plans, he kindly promised to send a message to his
native catechist in Bugoma instructing him to supply us
with vegetables while we were in that locality.

The station of the Church Missionary Society, a few
miles out of Hoima, we unfortunately had no time to
visit.

On November ist we took up the trail once more,
going in a south-westerly direction to the Bugoma forest
and the Albert Nyanza, as it appeared from information
collected by Mr. Grant that we should have a better
chance of big elephants in that locality than elsewhere.
We were accompanied by a local hunter, Duawiri, and two
friends of his. Our loads left at 8 A.M. for the first camp,
twelve miles out, and we ourselves started on our bicycles
at ten, being very pleased at the thought of getting in
touch with elephants once more — an elation that was more
than shared by our hunter, Chumamaboko, who had been
wondering if we should ever reach the elephant country
of which we had told him. We added a local cook and
a personal boy to our staff, so that by working with our
Rhodesian servants they could get accustomed to our
habits by the time the latter left us for their homes, which
was probably going to be on December 9th at Butiaba,
on our embarking for Nimule.

XII

ELEPHANT HUNTING NEAR THE ALBERT

NYANZA

The "Kabaka" of Bunyoro — Heavy rain — The Bugoma forest —
Colobus monkeys — Death of our dogs — After elephant in "elephant
grass" — Helplessness of the hunter Duawiri — The Albert Nyanza —
Our first elephant — A wet night — Example of native stupidity — An
important change in our projected itinerary — More elephants near
the lake— A big one wounded and lost — More blank days in diffi-
cult country — The forest hog — A herd of elephants bogged in a
stream — Return to Hoima.

Cycling leisurely, and walking up the hills, which were
numerous, as the road was a remarkably good imitation of
a switchback, we reached our camp, Kikubi, in two and
a quarter hours. Luckily there was a good handa at the
camp in which we could shelter, for we only arrived just
before a heavy fall of rain, which lasted most of the after-
noon and a part of the night. While sitting in the banda
after lunch, a native arrived bearing a letter from the re-
presentative of the Kabaka (king) of Bunyoro — the Kabaka
himself being absent — stating that the bearer had been
sent to accompany us during our wanderings in Bugoma,
as he knew the country and people, and would be able to
assist us in obtaining information and in the purchase of
food for ourselves and our carriers. This was an entirely
spontaneous and voluntary act of courtesy on the part of
the Kabaka which proved of no small benefit to us.

The title " King " is accorded to the Kabaka of Bunyoro
as it is to his more important neighbour in the south, the
Kabaka of Buganda. It is not altogether inappropriate, as
some distinctive title is necessary to differentiate between
the more important rulers and ordinary chiefs. The king

of Bunyoro, like the king of Buganda, has a verj' consider-

17s

ELEPHANT HUNTING 173

able revenue, part of which (including a percentage of the
poll-tax) he receives from the Government, and part from
a rent of Rs.2 per hut per annum paid him by all the
Banyoro, besides ivory, royalties on salt, and other forms
of tribute. He lives in excellently constructed brick and
iron buildings, and is an enlightened ruler on a distinctly
higher plane than the ordinary tribal chief. He travels
about in considerable state, as we ourselves had an oppor-
tunity of observing on the occasion of our second visit to
Hoima.

We also saw his dancers on our return, weird skin-clad
performers who stood on their heads, beating time with
their feet, and accompanied by discordant noises blown
upon cow horns.

On the third day out we entered the Bugoma forest,
after a journey of no particular incident, except that on
the second night an exceptionally heavy shower nearly
swept away one of our tents. They had been pitched on
a slight slope, and trenches had been dug on all sides as a
precaution against rain. The higher of the two tents was
sufficiently protected, but the double stream of water
swept round it with such force that, uniting between it and
the lower one, it filled up the next line of ditches and
swept over them and into and through the tent in a stream
of some four feet wide and two or three inches deep. It
was a most complete swamping, and everything that could
float was floating, but fortunately there was nothing par-
ticularly perishable on the ground.

The Bugoma forest is of the type known as primeval ;
the densest of jungle, with big trees rising to an im-
mense height to seek the light, a tangle of creepers, and a
soft spongy surface of the decomposed vegetation, through
which courses many a cool, clear stream, now sparkling
in some shaft of light that penetrated the forest gloom, now
lurking in deep, dark pools that have the limpid clearness
of a rain-pond in some moorland peat-hag, but framed
with the dark, dead green of the sunless forest.

When we stood on the edge of it, looking down from
the rank grass and scrub into its uncanny darkness, we

174 THROUGH THE HEART OF AFRICA

thought that we might find in this forest the steaming
hot-house heat that so often spoils one's march through
tropical jungle, but our fears were groundless ; for leaving
the bright glare of an almost overpowering sun, we stepped
directly into a cool, even chilly atmosphere, and a gloom
that was so intense and impressive in its dark stillness that
unconsciously one spoke in whispers, as does the traveller
when, leaving some crowded thoroughfare, with the dazzling
white of its pavements and of its dust, he enters the doors
of some old cathedral, and, standing with bared head, waits
till the eyes have grown accustomed to the sombre light.
And indeed the similarity is not unreal, for in both cases
the senses are impressed by the change from bright sun
and objects of ordinary size to dim light and impres-
sive massiveness — an idea that doubtless inspired the
mediaeval architects of our great religious buildings which
have served for centuries not only as houses of prayer
and praise, but as havens for many a tired worker's quiet
meditation and refreshing, though momentary, rest from
the stress and turmoil of the outside world.

The presence of elephant spoor soon dispelled any
sombre feelings that the unaccustomed solemnity of the
scene had produced in our minds, but the examination
of the bruised blades of grass where the herds had forced
their way through the tangled vegetation or slipped down
the slimy forest slopes, showed that though the leaves and
boughs torn off in their passage were still green and
moist, owing to the damp, cool atmosphere, the spoor was
far from fresh. We were cheered a few minutes later
by the sight of a family of chattering colobus monkeys
sitting in the topmost limbs of the lofty trees, and spring-
ing with wonderful agility from bough to bough. We
had hoped for an opportunity of acquiring one or two of
these creatures' beautiful skins, and secured three speci-
mens. After lunching in a lovely glade while Chumama-
boko and Musa skinned our victims, we went on our way
and reached our camp at Daudi's after five hours' nett
travelling. It had been slow walking all the way — for
cycHng had been quite impracticable — and most of our

The Kabaka's Dancers.

ELEPHANT HUNTING

175

carriers took nine hours and a quarter for the fifteen miles,
averaging a mile in thirty-eight minutes. No wonder that
fifteen miles is considered a long day's trek in Uganda.
The day before reaching Kasama, at the commencement
of the journey, some Wawemba carriers took but little
longer to cover thirty miles.

This march brought us to within four miles of
Muhemba's, which we intended to make our headquarters ;
and sending Chumamaboko, Nkamba, and Musa with
Duawiri and his companions to find out anything they
could about elephants, we moved on there the next day.
Here we received a supply of potatoes and cabbages from
the Mission catechist, more potatoes, pine-apples, pawpaws
and bananas from Muhemba himself, besides plenty of
food for carriers, the chief producing 175 bundles at half
a cent and one cent each that night. Sheep, too, were
obtainable at Rs.2, so we congratulated ourselves on having
found so good a place at which to camp, but our enjoy-
ment of it was not a little marred by the death of both
our remaining dogs, "Jock" and " Nyunshi," from tick
fever, the latter being put out of her misery when recovery
seemed hopeless. They had been good friends to each
other, as well as faithful companions to us, and were
buried, as they had lived, side by side.

Chumamaboko returned about 8 p.m., and cheered
us with a report that he had seen some good elephants to
the north. He seemed confident that they were worth
finding, so we started at dawn in the following morning,
and after a little less than three hours arrived at a small
village, in the gardens adjoining which the herd had been
feeding the previous night.

We lost no time in taking up the spoor, but had as
heartbreaking and blank a day as it had ever been our
lot to endure. The country was an endless waste of rank
tangled elephant grass, twenty to twenty-five feet in
height, and all but impenetrable. Had we come on a
herd it would have been impossible to pick out the bulls,
much more to see their tusks, for it would have been
necessary to approach to within a yard to see anything

176 THROUGH THE HEART OF AFRICA

at all. It was only at rare intervals that even in the
elephant paths one could see a man ten yards away ; off
their tracks one could see nothing at all but the ever-
lasting " grass." There were very few trees from which
we could survey the surrounding country, and no ant-hills.
This kind of jungle was not altogether unfamiliar to us ;
we had often come across it when hunting elephant and
buffalo in our own country, but there it exists in relatively
small patches (known as chipia by the natives) dotted
about a fairly easy country, but here there was nothing
else ; it seemed interminable. The sun was oppressively
hot, there was not a breath of wind, and after five hours
of what would have been hard enough going in any con-
ditions, without coming up with the herd, we had had
enough of it, and returned to camp at three o'clock.
There we had the doubtful consolation of learning that
the elephants had passed behind us some hours earlier,
crossing our own tracks, and had moved in the direction
of Muhemba's.

Even one day was enough to show us the utter useless-
ness and incompetence of our new hunter, Duawiri.
On the few occasions when he roused himself sufficiently
to simulate interest in his work, he would invariably
differ with Chumamaboko as to which tracks to follow,
but being as invariably wrong, he soon gave up the
pretence. When, at a brief halt, Chumamaboko and some
local natives went reconnoitring for fresh clues, he
crowned his general ineptitude by lying down and going
to sleep. As we were satisfied that he was less help than
hindrance, we let him sleep.

The next morning while retracing our steps to
Muhemba's we met a few villagers, waiting on the path
to intercept us, who told us that some elephants had
passed through their gardens in the night, and had been
seen the same morning in quite short grass. They
seemed to know something about elephants and elephant
hunting, so, sending our tents and other gear on to
Muhemba's, we struck off to the west in the direction
from which they had come. Words fail one to describe

ELEPHANT HUNTING 177

the tangle through which we toiled at a rate of a mile and
a half per hour. For some two hours the going was
even worse than on the preceding day. Then, to our
intense relief, we emerged into a large open plain clothed
with fine grass that was not more than six feet high. Far
below us, stretching right across the western horizon^
were the beautiful blue waters of the Albert Nyanza,
backed by the cloud-strewn purple mountains of the
Congo on the far side. Great granite boulders, from
which we gained magnificent views of the lake, rose like
islands in the sea of grass. But a little later when stand-
ing on one of these we discerned that the whole slope
below us was dotted with elephants, some standing singly,
some in groups, the tops of their backs being visible
above the yellow grass. North and west were bunches
of cows and calves, the latter playing restlessly, the former
occasionally rousing themselves from their midday lethargy
to rebuke the exuberance of their offspring, or raising
their trunks to call shrilly for a missing youngster.

On a ridge to our left, towards the south, were
several bulls bringing up the rear of the herd. Three
or four of them seemed fair-sized animals — they were
moving drowsily along, each contented with his own
society ; while two younger bulls were carrying on a
playful light, untroubled by the heat of the day, and be-
tween them and the main body were perhaps a dozen
others whose size was a matter for conjecture. The
whole herd must have stretched over a distance of nearly
two miles.

For two hours we watched their every movement
through our glasses, moving from one point of vantage
to another ; unable to decide which, if any, were worth
going after, now and again resting our eyes with a look
at the unrivalled view of the lake that lay before us.
Finally we came to the conclusion that two of the bulls
in some thick vegetation to the south were the best — the
farthest of all and the fourth from him — and, making our
way towards them, approached the nearer of the two that
we had selected. Duawiri and all the locals except Musa

M

178 THROUGH THE HEART OF AFRICA

we left behind. The former expert had actually pro-
posed that we should leave the isolated bulls alone and
go after the main herd. As it was obviously composed
of cows and small bulls (and was down wind to boot),
his object could only have been to get us into a mess
which might have resulted in our wounding two or three
of them, to be picked up later by the natives. A more
barefaced suggestion we had never heard. Though we
got quite close to the bull it was some time before we
could see his tusks — short thick ones of about 50 lbs.
a piece. After a good look at him from the top of a
convenient tree, Chumamaboko declared that the more
southerly elephant had better ivory, so we moved on,
and were lucky in finding a large granite boulder which
gave a moderately good view of his ear and shoulder.
We had drawn lots to decide who should begin, and the
winner (Cholmeley) decided to try the brain shot with
his double .360, though our rock was sixty yards from
the quarry. The other stood by with his double .450
ready to put in a right and left in the shoulder in case
the first shot failed to bring him down. We waited no
longer than was necessary for a steady aim, and then
the .360 rang out and the elephant toppled over, getting
a .450 bullet in the side of his face by the ear as he fell.
Not a single step did he move, but w'e doubted if the
first shot had reached the brain direct, as he fell sideways
and gave a defiant trumpet-call as he reached the ground.
It had got him, as a matter of fact, in the ear-hole, while
the other had entered a little further forward and came
out at the forehead, and he was quite dead when we got
up to him. He measured 10 ft. 4 in, at the shoulder ;
the tusks measured 66 1 in. and 64^ in. total, and 39 in.
and 37 in. outside measurement, with a girth of 16^ in.,
and weighed 465 lbs. and 46 lbs. He was rather disappoint-
ing, but we were glad to have made a beginning, and con-
soled ourselves by hoping for better luck next time. As
it was by this time two o'clock, we sent Musa to fetch
our luncheon baskets, which we had left a mile behind
us, and to despatch two of our local village guides to

Our first elephant.

ELEPHANT HUNTING

179

Muhemba's to bring along our tents and camp gear.
Within an hour the luncheon baskets had arrived, but so
had all the natives who had remained behind. Wondering
who had been sent with our message, we called Musa.

" You have presumably sent off some men to Muhem-
ba's ? " we asked.

" No," he replied, " they have not gone."

" Why on earth not ? We told you to send a couple
of men back to the village to fetch our tents and gear,
and you say they have not gone."

" Well," he said, it was Duawiri who stopped them
going. I told them to go,"

Somewhat amazed at the latest eccentricity on the
part of our erratic expert, we asked him to explain.

Oh," he replied airily, " when the white man shoots
an elephant he goes back to the village where he slept.
He does not camp in the bush."

A homicidal impulse all but overpowered us, but we
made an effort, succeeded in keeping fairly cool, and,
with a big breath,

"Whatever any other white man," we retorted, "who
has been unfortunate or imbecile enough to be guided by
your counsels may have done or left undone under these
or any other circumstances does not interest us in the
very least. We thought we had made ourselves clear
that we intend to camp where we are, and we shall be
grateful if in the future you will refrain from taking upon
yourself to improve our programme according to any
ideas of your own."

" Oh, well, just as you like, of course, but there is no
water nearer than the lake, and none of the men will
have any food."

" As to the food," we said, " there is enough of that
elephant for a couple of hundred starving hyenas ; and
as for water, you have not looked, and we will bet you
six months' pay to a pinch of salt that you are wrong."

To do him justice, he did not behave as if he expected
to acquire sudden wealth, and indeed we did not have to
pay. Water was found within five minutes' walk.

i8o THROUGH THE HEART OF AFRICA

He was not, however, in the least upset by our
attempts at rebuke ; evidently resigning himself to the
prospect of following two cantankerous and selfish lunatics
about the bush, he retired and consoled himself by gloat-
ing over his coming gorge.

The delay was sufficiently annoying, and probably
made just the difference in the chance of our tents reach-
ing us before night.

It was now nearly four, and as we had but a slender
idea of the distance of Muhemba's and but little confi-
dence in our messengers, we took the precaution of having
a grass hut built in case nothing turned up. And it
was fortunate that we did ; there was never a sign of our
carriers, and it rained from midnight till nearly dawn.
We were lucky in having some food left over, and with
a consomme of fresh elephant-tail soup made a very fair
meal by the light of our camp fire. We missed our
blankets considerably, but wrapped up in our " slip-ons,"
one with a camera and the other with a cartridge-bag
for a pillow, we managed to get a certain amount of
sleep in spite of the fact that our roof was leaking in
four or five places. We woke somewhat unrefreshed
and aching, but, curiously enough, both of us cured of
sore throats that had been annoying us considerably the
previous day.

Three of our staff who had intended to sleep in the
open at the fireside crawled into our shelter when the rain
began, and huddled up near the door, for which, though
one of them snored immoderately, we were not sorry, as
they helped to keep out the draught.

A cup of tea cheered us a little, and at nine we
welcomed our carriers and, ergo, our breakfast, with real
delight. They had left at five and had lost their way, so
we could not be more than a couple of hours or so from
Muhemba's after all.

A wash and breakfast soon lessened our woes, the dis-
comforts of the night were quickly forgotten, and we spent
a quiet day while the elephant was being cut up.

A curious example of native stupidity occurred in con-

ELEPHANT HUNTING

i8i

nection with the disposal of the meat. When it had been
cut up we divided it into five portions, allotting one to the
Kabaka's representative, Muhemba, and the local villagers
and guides, another to our Rhodesian staff and the hunters,
and the remaining three-fifths to our carriers. Knowing
that Baganda do not eat elephant meat, we explained to
them that they could use it to purchase food from the local
natives to whom it was not taboo, and thus either save their
cents or supplement their rations. We were dumbfounded
when they curtly and emphatically refused to take any of
it. Pressed to give a reason they explained that they
would rather have cents than meat, so once more we told
them that the meat, being a gift, was supplementary to
and not in lieu of cents : that they could have their cents
and the meat, or the cents only, but that there was not
and never had been any question of their getting meat
only. This only elicited the cool suggestion that if we
liked we could give the meat to the villagers and instruct
them to provide our carriers with extra food, gratis ; to
which, restraining our irritation with difficulty, we replied
that we were not going to do their marketing for them,
and that if they left the meat it would be given uncondi-
tionally to the local natives. They preferred to leave it,
so the local Banyoro profited considerably by their
stupidity.

We discovered later, when we knew them better, that
the real reason for this remarkable attitude on their part
was that they feared we should, in spite of our assertions,
use the gift of meat as an excuse for docking their food
allowance of two cents a day, as had been done by some
other travellers.

During the day we received a note from Mr. Grant
containing news which was to make a considerable
difference to our journey on to the Soudan. While still
at Hoima we had wired to Alidina Visram's agent at
Nimule to ask if he could procure carriers there for us
on our arrival by steamer from Butiaba, for our next stage
to Gondokoro. We had received a reply that it was
impossible to obtain any, so Mr. Grant kindly wired to

i82 THROUGH THE HEART OF AFRICA

the District Commissioner at Nimule to enlist his help,
but in the letter which we received at this elephant camp
he wrote : —

" I am not at all sanguine that men can be got at
Nimule, in fact I am almost sure that it will not be
possible. The natives in the Nile district will not carry
loads at any price, and on the rare occasions when they
get carriers they only go from village to village."

This made it practically certain that we could not go
by steamer from Butiaba to Nimule, as it would be quite
useless to arrive at the latter place and be stranded there
for lack of carriers, while the conveyance of sufficient men
by steamer would be very expensive. The alternative,
which we decided to adopt, was to go overland all the
way, taking our carriers through. This meant missing
the most picturesque part of the river journey, but held
out instead a far more entertaining prospect, in the shape
of the trip through the little known and unadministered
Lango territory south of Nimule, through which we had
been informed we could travel if we wished to, though
that part of the territory was really closed to travellers.
To anticipate a little, after we had left Hoima for Masindi
a fortnight later a telegram arrived from the District
Commissioner at Nimule stating that he could arrange for
thirty carriers if we would bring the balance, but the
prospect of travelling through the Lango country had
grown more and more alluring as we dwelt upon it, and
we decided definitely to give up the idea of the easier
river journey.

The abandonment of the steamer journey and the
choice of the route made it necessary to calculate how
much time remained at our disposal ; and we reckoned
that travelling direct by the overland route we could arrive
at Gondokoro in thirty-two days. This would leave us a
margin of eighteen days for shooting and occasional rests.
We had not many more days to spare for the Bugoma
district if we were to get any sport in the Masindi country ;
but as the prospects seemed fairly good where we were,

ELEPHANT HUNTING

183

and we were getting a plentiful and almost daily supply of
pine-apples, cabbages, and potatoes, we decided to give the
spot a fair trial before moving on.

Muhemba, who had come to our camp with plenty of
food for our carriers, had cheered us by declaring that
the neighbourhood of his village was the regular habitat of
small groups of big bulls, and suggested sending out scouts
early next morning who might get back the same night
with news. We accepted his offer, and returned once
more to his village to await developments.

By noon the following day news came in of a herd
with one big bull about a couple of hours away, but the
hour was late, the report not very convincing, and we
decided not to move that day.

The following morning we were off at dawn. For about
three hours, progress was very dull, tramping and crush-
ing through elephant grass and water, for it had been
raining daily for nearly a week. But at about nine o'clock,
after being on fresh spoor for half-an-hour or so, when we
were quite close to the south end of Lake Albert and within
sight of the swampy delta of the Semliki River, we heard the
rumbling of a herd of elephants some little way ahead.

The country of this corner of the lake consists of
a series of undulating hill-ridges running east and west,
the intervening valleys being formed by the watercourses
which drain the surrounding country and act as feeders
to the lake.

It was some fifteen minutes later that, when topping
one of these ridges, we sighted our herd slowly mounting
the opposite rise, about 500 yards away. They had
brought us still closer to the lake, and we could see the
sandy foreshore at the foot of the escarpment.

We let them disappear over the crest, and then, the
wind being right, went after them. On topping the rise
ourselves, we soon saw a portion of the herd emerging
from a " gully " below us, and another a little farther on,
apparently cows and calves. While taking a good look at
them, the snapping of trees close on our left showed that
the tail of the herd was still near by.

i84 THROUGH THE HEART OF AFRICA

Stepping cautiously forward, we were presently re-
warded by the sight of a fine big bull moving across our
course, and feeding as he went. Others were close by,
and as they were probably all bulls, bringing up more suo
the tail of the herd, we advanced more warily than ever,
wishing neither to lose a chance of a good tusker, nor to
get into any kind of trouble. A minute or two later, the
beast that we had first sighted gave us a better view of
himself than ever, and we decided that he was quite good
enough.

Taking steady aim for the heart we fired — first the
.450, right and left, then a single shot from the .360.

A tremendous commotion followed — the whole country-
side seemed alive with elephants. We did not see another
worth bagging, so while the herd was scrambling and
scattering, goodness knew where, we retired to a clump
of boulders close by from which we could see what was
happening — not for a moment doubting that the victim
was sufficiently disabled to allow us time to look round.
The herd, which must have been nearer two hundred than
one (we counted a hundred and forty), took a long time to
move off, particularly some small cows, which hung about
so persistently just on the top of the next small rise,
apparently perplexed by what we thought were the dying
groans of our beast, that it was about half-an-hour before
we descended to investigate. We had had a good view
of the whole herd going up the next big rise, and we
laughed at a suggestion that the wounded one had been
helped off by his pals, quite expecting to find him dead or
near it.

Our disappointment and chagrin may be imagined
when we discovered not a trace of him anywhere, nor,
at first, even a drop of blood. The mystery was further
deepened when Chuma, who had gone back to the point
from which we had fired to pick up the trail, returned to
say that all our three bullets had struck a tree a long way
from the ground, and consequently must have missed him.

We went along ourselves, and, when we had taken
everything in, were more mystified than ever — the tree had

ELEPHANT HUNTING

185

certainly been struck, a small branch some nine feet from
the ground bearing the three bullet marks, almost in a
dead straight line, and less than a foot apart.

We carefully reconstructed the whole while the details
were fresh in our memory. The tree was twelve paces
beyond the spot on which the elephant had been standing,
and here the height at which the bullets must have passed
was but seven feet.

As the elephant was at least ten feet eight inches in
height, the bullets cannot have passed over him, further
proved by the fact that blood was found in four different
spots, and it was almost equally impossible to believe either
that all three bullets — two .450 and one .360 — -had passed
clean through him, or — considering the distance of thirty-
two yards at which we had been standing — that any of
our shots had clean missed him : they were much more
likely to have passed through and close to the base of his
heart.

However it may have happened, we never found a trace
of him again. We had already sent back for our tents,
&c., before leaving the rocks. After realising our loss we
lunched, and then went on for two or three hours more
in hopes of finding the wounded beast. We got quite
close up to parts of the herd three or four times, but
never saw anything worth shooting at ; and the heavy
rain which fell for the rest of the afternoon destroyed all
chances of the blood spoor being any longer visible. The
herd had broken up into small groups, none of which
appeared to contain large bulls. It was nearly always in
the thickest of stuff that we found them, but as they were
moving slowly, we generally got a glimpse of everything in
the group.

It was with one of these groups that we had what
might have been a very unpleasant encounter. We had
been for some little time following and watching the move-
ments of a batch of twenty or thirty, which we thought
might contain the wounded bull, when suddenly we heard
on our right the low rumbling sound that indicated the
close proximity of yet another detachment. We had just

i86 THROUGH THE HEART OF AFRICA

descended from a point of vantage and were making our
way along a dip between two little ridges, the right hand
of which was broken up into smaller hills. The sounds
seemed to come from beyond these latter, so we worked
round the first of them, hoping to obtain a sight of the
beasts from the top of the second.

The pass between the two was narrow, steep-sided,
thickly overgrown and rough underfoot. We had actually
entered it and were looking for a good spot to mount the
next incline, when a stick snapped like a pistol-shot, swish
went a thick patch of grass less than ten paces in front of
us, and a swaying trunk and a pair of huge flapping ears
were towering above us at what seemed like a height of
twenty feet.

We had met the herd right in our gully, and coming
from the opposite direction ! We just had time to see that
it was a huge cow that was upon us, so we scrambled up
the slope to our right without any further delay and
awaited developments. Fortunately we had not been
seen, and at first they began filing quietly out of the
gully suspecting nothing. As they passed within a few
paces of us we saw that there were fifteen or sixteen of
them — all cows or young bulls, with a calf or two. Some
were huge beasts, but none carried tusks of any size. A
step or two farther and some of the foremost had reached
the spot on which we had a second before been standing.
Up went their trunks sniffing the tainted breeze, and as
they got clear of the gully six or seven of them wheeled
round, stood and stared at us with a suspicious and un-
easy air. For nearly half a minute they hesitated, and we
were wondering whether they meant trouble after all, when,
to our relief, their alarm got the better of their pugnacity,
and they turned and stampeded in the opposite direction.

It had been an anxious moment ; we were in a fairly
good position, and we might or might not have succeeded
in stopping a charge, but at the best it would have meant
the murder of a cow or an underweight bull, which would
have been unfortunate.

After examining yet two more groups that were bring-

ELEPHANT HUNTING

187

ing up the rear of the scattered herd, and seeing no trace
of our wounded bull or any more big tuskers, we came to
the conclusion that the old males must have gone off in a
different direction, and we decided to give it up. Turning
back, we reached the stream at which we had told our
carriers to camp, at above five o'clock.

Our instructions had once more been improved upon,
however, and after waiting an hour, during which we had
another hut built in which to pass the night, we discovered
that they had selected a spot a mile or two up stream.
We reached it at nightfall, to find the indefatigable and
obliging Muhemba awaiting us with a hundred bundles
of food.

It had been raining of¥ and on most of the day ; we
were soaked to the skin, and fairly worn out, and for once
were content to make the best of a warm bath and a camp
fire without discoursing on the ethics of meticular obedi-
ence.

The next day was spent in much the same neighbour-
hood, but a little farther east, and it proved equally
fruitless.

It was about half-past nine when elephants were first
heard. The wind was variable, but mainly in our favour,
and after moving in their direction for twenty minutes we
sighted them on a rise about a mile away, with a hollow
and a stream between us. Some were descending the
slope, others were in the stream itself, but the grass and
vegetation were so high that even their backs were not
visible all the time.

For some thirty minutes we could see nothing but
young bulls and cows ; then a huge bull appeared two or
three hundred yards behind the rest, and following slowly
in their wake. His tusks were hidden, but his bulk
suggested the possibility of a big pair, and we proceeded
to try and get up to him. It was going to be a difficult
task, and we had hardly decided which direction to take
when our attention was attracted by a score of vultures
hovering and circling over a spot about a mile to our left.
Thinking that it might be our quarry of the day before

1 88 THROUGH THE HEART OF AFRICA

that had succumbed, we hastened to the spot. Another
and a peculiar disappointment ! The attraction was the
placenta of an elephant that had given birth some few
hours before.

Returning towards our original objective, we climbed
a tall tree that ought to have given us some sort of glimpse
of the herd, but only to find that the beasts had got our
wind and had all stampeded. Another big herd, however,
was sighted to the north, moving south-east, and after a
little rest and refreshment we proceeded to try and cut
them off.

We had been going less than an hour when we found
that there was yet another herd considerably closer on
our right. Investigation showed them to be in a dense
forest patch near the top of a slight incline, and we started
off in their direction. We had but little idea of the
difficulties that lay before us.

The grass and vegetation in which we had been work-
ing all the morning was tall and thick enough, but it was
not " elephant " grass proper, and it presently gave way
to a big patch of the latter that surpassed all our previous
experiences. This was fifteen to twenty feet high, and so
strong and close as to be every bit as impenetrable as a
bamboo brake, but closer and denser than any bamboos
that ever grew. For fully three-quarters of an hour,
during which time we travelled perhaps half a mile, we
were painfully and laboriously forcing our way through
it. Chumamaboko — an exceptionally powerful six-foot
native of just twelve stone — led the way ; armed with a
stout alpenstock, he threw himself bodily on the tough
and matted stems, and forced, pulled, pushed, and tore
them aside, and crushed them down by sheer weight and
strength. It was quite tiring enough following in the
passage that he made, and it was with many a gasp of
relief that we finally emerged and found ourselves on the
edge of the forest strip in which we had detected the
presence of the elephants. We had trees of all sizes and
tangled undergrowth to make our way through now, but,
except in patches, it was free from tall grass, and we had

ELEPHANT HUNTING

189

a fairly clear view in most directions for as much as
twenty yards.

We struck fresh spoor almost at once, and had gone
but a few steps when a snorting, trumpeting, and crashing
to our right warned us that the herd had not gone far.
The noise died away again as quickly as it had begun, but
they were evidently still there, and giving no indication of
the direction of their next move.

Just as we were moving cautiously on, a giant forest
hog stepped out in front of us and stood and stared at us
for fully six seconds before he cocked up his tail and,
with a contemptuous grunt, dived into the undergrowth,
where he remained till a clod of earth thrown in his direc-
tion caused him to beat a final retreat. He was a fine
young male, with no tushes visible, standing about three
feet nine inches ^ at the shoulder, and we deeply regretted
that our close proximity to elephants lost us a probably
unique chance of securing a specimen of one of the rarest
of African mammals.

Moving on once more, we were suddenly brought to
a standstill by a fresh outburst of snorting, trumpeting,
screaming, and splashing just in front of us and closer.
The elephants were either crossing a stream or having a
bath ; they were closer than ever, and sounded as if they
were coming our way.

After a brief halt, a little scouting by Chuma resulted
in a report that they were stuck in a stream which they
were trying to cross. Following him through a dense
fringe of reeds and grass, we reached the edge of a stream
or swamp some fifteen yards broad, and saw the rear-
guard of the herd standing in the water and reeds that
fringed the farther side. There were only cows visible,
and as they began to show signs of returning our way we
retreated a little way back to a spot where we should
have more room to move. After one or two more false
alarms we sent Chuma up a tall tree to reconnoitre. He

1 In Rowland Ward's Records of Big Gaj/ie the height of the forest hog is
put at much less than this, but we carefully noted the height to which this beast
reached on a sapling, and then measured it.

I90 THROUGH THE HEART OF AFRICA

descended five minutes later, saying he had seen them all
as they were moving off, and that there was not a big bull
amongst them. Had the report come from Duawiri we
should have climbed that tree ourselves, but we knew we
could trust Chuma : he was as keen as either of us on
getting a big one, and ready to go through any kind of
country.

It was another blank day, and the only thing left to
do was to get back to camp, which we had had pitched at
a small village near Muhemba's. The walk back was very
much like the afternoon's scramble through the elephant
grass, only there was much more of it. After we had
thought that we had got to camp at least three times on
the way, and when we reached a condition in which it
really did not seem to matter whether we got there at
midnight or dawn or whether we ever got there at all,
we eventually found the spot at a little after dark — too
tired either to think much of our disappointment or even
fully to appreciate the rest and refreshment for which
barely an hour before we would have given almost any-
thing we had.

We had had enough of Bugoma ; we had seen hundreds
of elephants, at least a score of bulls with tusks of forty
to fifty pounds, but only one — the one that we had
wounded and lost — with as much as sixty-pounders, and
we decided there and then to try the Masindi district
without any further delay, and were back in Hoima three
days later.

XIII

ELEPHANT HUNTING IN THE MASINDI
DISTRICT— I

Sale of our ivory at Hoima — A civet cat— Total eclipse of the moon —
Encounter with Captain Tufnell — Masindi — Elephant hunting in a
forest belt — Our second elephant — Blank days near Samusoni's and
Benjamin's.

On our arrival for the second time at Hoima we found
that Mr. Grant had been called away to other duties, and
that Dr. Strathairn, the Medical Officer, was acting in his
place pending the arrival of a successor.

Though sorry to have missed our former host, we had
nothing to complain of in the change, for besides enjoying
the delightful hospitality of Dr. and Mrs. Strathairn, we
got every kind of assistance and advice that it occurred
to us to ask for.

We also found Messrs. McLure and Bain, Super-
intendent of Public Works and District Engineer, whom
we had previously met at Entebbe. The former had just
arrived from there on a motor bicycle, a distance of
150 miles, only sleeping at Kampala, twenty-two miles out,
on the way. The following day he started back, and,
we heard later, accomplished the return journey in the
same time — not an insignificant achievement, considering
the effect on the roads of a sudden tropical shower, and
the discomforts and inconveniences that would attend a
breakdown at, say, half-way between Hoima and Kampala.

Dr. Marshall, another medical officer, had also arrived,
and knowing something of the Masindi country, gave us a
very useful little sketch-map showing the most likely spots
for elephant, as well as some welcome advice. His esti-
mate of our chances of success, as well as the sight of a

191

192 THROUGH THE HEART OF AFRICA

pair of tusks which he himself recently secured — the larger
of which scaled ninety-one pounds — gave us some en-
couragement.

Duawiri and the local natives who had been of special
service to us in Bugoma had to be paid off, but before
doing so we sought advice.

We really could not, without protest, pay that amiable
muddler what he seemed to think he was worth, nor, to
our relief, were we required to.

Five men of Muhemba's, who had really put us on to
the herd out of which we bagged our bull, received Rs.5
a piece, and Duawiri Rs.3 ! As he had been boasting
that he was going to get Rs.30 per elephant, it was some-
thing of a shock to him, but he had been less than no
assistance to us, and it was quite as much as he had earned.
Chuma, needless to say, was delighted. He had had no
use whatever for poor old Duawiri, and had chaffed him
unmercifully round the camp fire, the evening after the
death of our elephant. They were cutting up their meat
into the usual strips, and hanging them on rude trestles
over the fire, and Duawiri was trying in vain to face the
running fire of sarcasm that was being poured on him by
Chuma and the others. He was indiscreet enough to
begin crowing : —

" Ha ! we have killed an elephant to-day ! "

" We ! " shouted Chuma. " We ? I say, he thinks he
had something to do with it ! Here, hand me that knife,
and don't pinch my meat."

" Meat ! " from Duawiri, with an attempt at buoyancy.
" Yes, elephant meat ; there is no meat like elephant
meat, is there ? and there is plenty of it."

" Well, you have earned a lot, haven't you ? Oh,
well, I suppose even the hyena gets a meal if he
hangs on long enough behind the lion. Talk about
hunters ! Now / am an elephant hunter, I am. I have
tracked elephants, killed elephants, lived with elephants
all my life. If I am not an elephant hunter, who is ?
Have I not been at the death of all the elephants that the
Bwana has killed ? Has he ever killed a cow or a small

ELEPHANT HUNTING

193

tusker when I have been with him, and has he ever been
trampled on or driven away by them ? "

" Oh yes," murmured the other, with a shake of the
head, " you are a hunter."

" And have I," resumed the modest Chuma, " ever
suggested that he leaves the bulls of a herd, and go for the
cows and calves ? "

Here Duawiri, with a brave el¥ort to keep his end up,
replied with a word or two of Chiwemba that he had
picked up. It was not tactful, and Chuma turned on him.

" Mulenga strike me ! You would imitate me, would
you ! " On that the vanquished Duawiri relapsed into
silence, with a tolerant and easy smile, as if to say, " Well^
have it your own way," and Chuma went on with his
cooking.

We next approached the local firms, with a view to the
sale of our ivory. There were two who were buying —
Alidina Visram and the British Trading Company. Sound
medium-sized ivory was selling at the moment for Rs.5.5a
to Rs.6.50 per pound. We did not expect to get more
than Rs.5.50 from Alidina's agent, but we told him that
the British Trading Company were offering Rs.6, and he
eventually gave the larger price — though protesting, after
the manner of his race, that one tusk at least was defec-
tive, that the price was excessive, and that he was buying
at a loss.

The patched bicycle had been running quite satisfac-
torily since leaving Mubendi on October 22nd, and we had
begun to flatter ourselves that we were going to have no
more trouble with it. Our gratification was short-lived.
Its evil genius had merely been lying dormant for a time,
to wake into activity when we least expected it. During
the last mile into Hoima, it suddenly began to run
abominably stiff, and we took the first opportunity to strip
it and discover the nature of its fresh developments.
This time it looked as if the climax had been reached.
Another cone had split, probably owing to a faulty ball-
carrier, the fragments had got into the two-speed gear
mechanism, and the result was an advanced stage of

N

194 THROUGH THE HEART OF AFRICA

mechanical mincemeat, which it seemed hopeless to
attempt to remedy. Cogs were chipped, stripped, and
jammed, and the case-hardened rim of the perimetral gear-
wheel was cracking and peeling like an egg-shell. Fortu-
nately we had one spare sound cone on the discarded
mechanism. It was for the wrong side of the wheel, and
it could not remedy much of the damage, but we found
that by using the machine on the high gear only, though
it was bound to revolve stiffly, the wheel would revolve, and
we left it at that, wondering whether it would last a week,
a day, or even an hour.

The road to Masindi was an excellent one, with well-
placed and comfortable camps. It was but a distance of
thirty-one miles, but we took it easy, and leaving Hoima
on November i6th, got in on the third day at lo A.M.
The journey was comparatively uneventful. We secured
an interesting addition to our bag on the first day, in the
shape of a civet cat, which though common enough is rarely
seen owing to its nocturnal habits. The beast was lying
asleep on one of the lower branches of a large tree in the
camp compound. All the carriers had passed right under
it as they came in, and it was the last arrival of the whole
caravan who first detected its presence. At four o'clock
the following morning occurred an exceptionally fine total
lunar eclipse ; the sudden change from the brilliant light of
the full moon to the inky blackness of night was enough
to impress even the lethargic and apathetic native.

At our second camp we met Captain Tufnell, District
Commissioner at Palango, who was proceeding home on
leave. Many of his carriers were of the Lango tribe, and
though of a distinctly savage type, they impressed us con-
siderably with their athletic carriage and fine physique.
Kelobong, one of the most important chiefs of the tribe,
was accompanying him as far as Hoima, to be shown a
little of the white man's civilisation. Unlike his people,
who, at the most, wore a narrow strip of skin, he was
attired in a European serge suit, and a felt hat with a
white puggaree. On our arrival he came forward, and
shook our hands with a grave and easy courtesy of which

ELEPHANT HUNTING

195

we were to see a good deal more later in our
journey.

We were naturally deeply interested to hear all that
Captain Tufnell could tell us about the country through
which we were going to travel. Neither the Acholi nor
the Lango, he said, would come near us for anything —
except perhaps to eat an elephant — and any food that we
wanted in the Lango country would have to be procured
from the Baganda agents, through whom the Government
is beginning to exercise some control over these natives.

It was mainly for this reason that Captain Tufnell
emphatically approved the suggestion made to us at Hoima
that we should apply for a small escort of police from
Palango to Gondokoro.

Masindi station proper is built, like most of the out-
stations, on a slight rise, and a little removed from the
township, native market, and Indian bazaar. The offices
are ranged on three sides of a large open square, from the
back of which a drive of over a hundred yards leads to the
officials' residence. The drive is sheltered by a magnificent
avenue, principally of muiawa and gum trees ; a grassy
paddock at one side was enclosed by a tall, leafy fence of
growing saplings that had been driven into the ground as
stakes, and had subsequently taken root. It was composed
of all kinds of local trees, and provided a further testimony
to the fertility of the Uganda soil and the forcing powers
of the climate.

The Assistant District Commissioner, Mr. Postle-
thwaite, was away when we arrived, but returned next
morning with a pair of seventy-pound tusks that he had
secured while travelling in the neighbourhood. He pro-
vided us with a cheerful and intelligent-looking young
pagan, named Udala, who had been out with him, as
Duawiri's successor. He was a hunter in the service of
one of the local chiefs, but was more than willing to take
service with us as far as Palango on the understanding
that his work was chiefly to get information as to the
whereabouts of elephants, and his pay to be reckoned at
a maximum of Rs.20 for an elephant — supposing he were

196 THROUGH THE HEART OF AFRICA

really of assistance — and at a reduction for two or three.
He was despatched at once to order supplies and make
inquiries at our next camp.

Our carriers left at about noon, and an hour later,
during luncheon, a report came in to the effect that two
large bull elephants had been seen that morning in some
native gardens within six miles of the station and only a
mile or two out of our way.

A couple of bulls by themselves sounded rather
promising, so after despatching a messenger to inform
the Mwami of our coming, and sending our gun-bearers
ahead to await us at the turning off the main road, we
started at half-past two. At four o'clock we reached the
shaiuba from which the report had come, and found the
owner and some of his people awaiting us. The herd
was said to be still quite close, but it consisted of five,
not two only. This was not so encouraging. An under-
estimate even of three was suspicious. There might be
many more after all, and our chances of finding one or
two solitary bulls — always more likely to be big tuskers
than those running with a large herd — were gone again.

Their morning's spoor was close by, but no fresher
traces were found until after an hour's plodding through
very thick grass, some seven or eight feet high, they were
faintly heard blowing some distance away to our
right.

From the upper branches of a tree could be seen a
belt of thick jungle half a mile off in the direction from
which the sounds had come, and it seemed likely that the
herd had found a pool in the shade and were enjoying
themselves in it. In a few minutes we found ourselves
on the edge of a shallow depression, overgrown with
very tall grass, on the farther side of which rose the
forest belt that was our objective. The fresh spoor that
we had found ten minutes before led down through the
grass and into the jungle.

We had had no further indications of their presence
nor any of their departure, so, though we could seldom
see anything more than fifteen paces away and in some

The D.C"s House at Masindi

ELEPHANT HUNTING

197

directions but three or four, we groped our way cautiously
in and hoped for the best.

Every minute we expected to come on some member
of the herd. Once or twice we were brought to a stand-
still, peering and listening, as a snapping stick or a shaking
bough close in front of us warned us that we might be
getting a little too near. Then a deep cough from a
clump of reeds on our left made us feel certain that we were
right in the middle of the herd, till we realised that it was
only a leopard whose voice had been exaggerated by the
tension of the moment. This forest patch proved far
harder going than anything we had encountered in Bugoma.
Masses of leafy creepers here and there lay across our
path that had been brushed aside by the elephants, and
yet scarcely gave a passage.

For at least a hundred yards we had to pick our way
over and through a slough of mud and water, stepping as
best we could from root to root of mighty trees and
hanging on to the vines that festooned them ; testing
every inch of our path before we trusted our weight to it.
Sometimes a false step meant a plunge into clinging
viscous mud up to the knee or further, sometimes the
swamp seemed bottomless to Chumamaboko's probing
spear, and a fallen log or hidden root had to be discovered
before we dared move on. It was not the best of places in
which to surprise a herd of elephant, and there were
moments when we wondered how we should feel if round
the next corner we were to meet some of them as we had
done in Bugoma — coming the opposite way. However,
though we could have sworn from a dozen different signs
that they were on that forest belt at the same time as
ourselves, we saw nothing of them, and when we finally
emerged — after turning and twisting, climbing and crawl-
ing, dodging and stooping through mud and water — and
slithered and stumbled up a grassy bank into the open
bush, we found that they had left it some minutes before.
Their noiseless exit was not the least remarkable of our
afternoon's experiences.

We pressed on for a while and heard them once more

198 THROUGH THE HEART OF AFRICA

before the setting sun warned us that it was time to give
it up if we wanted to avoid the risk of losing our way.
Our local guides, however, found us a path back to the
village sooner than we expected, and at half-past six we
reached the spot where we had left our bicycles and taken
up the spoor. Here we found that our new guide from
Hoima had sent off to camp to fetch our tents to us, but
as there was no question as to which would be the best
place to camp, we started off to meet them. After a long
and rather difficult tramp through an overgrown path,
which we only succeeded in keeping by almost touching
the native in front of us, we got to the camping-place
on the road at 8.15, meeting the boys about half-way.

The following day we kept to the road, and pushed
on twenty-four miles to a camp called Kiliandongo's, as
its neighbourhood had been recommended as offering
good opportunities, and there was little chance of finding
anything in between. The distance was almost too much
for our carriers, and after a breakfast at 6.30 we got no
lunch till four o'clock.

The same night we had a report of a big herd seen
at sundown by local scouts, and next day at noon, while
we were waiting for further details, came news of another
whose habitat was said to be within two hours' walk.

For three months it had been feeding during the night
in their gardens, said the natives who brought the report,
moving during the daytime into a path of bush less than
a mile away. Sending Chuma and Udala ahead the
same evening, we followed at daybreak, and in less than
two hours reached the little village in a country called
Chilelambachu, from which the report had come. In
obedience to a message awaiting us from Chuma we fol-
lowed him, and in ten minutes were with him on fresh spoor.
He had already caught sight of the herd : nothing more
than a forty- or fifty-pounder had so far shown itself, but
there were others a little way ahead, and the wholesale
destruction in the banana groves as well as the stripping
and uprooting of several large trees bore witness to the
fact that the herd contained some huge beasts. After

ELEPHANT HUNTING

199

half-an-hour through tall grass and a small belt of jungle,
we came out into a comparatively open country with a
few big trees and grass only six or seven feet high, and
heard them trumpeting close by. Chuma sighted them
from a tree-top, and reported a pair of tusks of the same
size as our first victim's. A large tree some forty paces
on promised a better view, and thither we made our way.
Chuma climbed up it as usual, and the lighter of us
followed him.

There were elephants all over the place. Eight or ten
that were standing in the shade some 150 yards away to
our left front were cows, with perhaps a young bull or
two ; another group, right in front, was obviously com-
posed of small fry ; no more were at first visible, though
the shrill trumpetings that broke out at frequent intervals
showed that there were other groups hidden by grass and
trees close by.

After nearly an hour's waiting and watching, two huge
bulls were seen slowly emerging from cover to the right
and advancing towards the nearer of the two groups.
Their tusks were as yet hidden in the grass. After one
of them had raised our hopes by taking a few steps right
in our direction, they halted at a distance of a hundred
or a hundred and twenty paces, and seemed to go to sleep.

For another hour we watched them, hoping to get a
glimpse of some tusks. It was not exactly a comfortable
occupation ; the tree was of the variety that is studded
nearly all over with short thorns, the foothold was an un-
pleasantly narrow fork, and the view was partially ob-
structed by foliage. Presently Chuma announced from
a higher perch that the nearer of the two bulls had tusks
of much the same size as those we had secured in Bugoma,
and a minute later the whole herd began to move. One
of the smaller groups came within eighty yards of us, and
some newly arrived cows looked like advancing right on
to us from a belt of trees to our right, but eventually all
bent their course away from us, the last to shift being the
two bulls, on whom we had pinned our hopes. Sadly
we realised that there was nothing really good enough, and

200 THROUGH THE HEART OF AFRICA

decided to return to camp. But we had been working
round more or less in a circle, and our way led us right
over the spot just vacated by the bulls and in the wake
of the herd.

Five minutes later we scaled a small tree to see what
might be in front, to find that three or four of them were
standing like rocks less than forty yards away. The
blankness of the day had begun to tell upon us, and already
— the wish being father to the thought — we fancied there
might be a big enough one among these after all.

They moved off and we followed. After about fifteen
minutes' stalking and scouting, we suddenly came upon
eight or ten of them standing drowsily in the shade of some
big trees at the farther side of a " donga " ten or twelve feet
deep and fifty or sixty yards across. It was a surprising
thing to come across so ideal a spot in that country.
The bank on which we stood was dotted with big trees,
and afforded an almost perfect strategic position.

At first we could only see three or four pairs of quite
small tusks, but the beast which, from his size and colour,
was evidently the veteran of the bunch, was dozing with
his head hidden behind a tree trunk, and we decided to
wait till he should move and show his ivory. While
waiting, we were treated to a very pretty little exhibition of
tree-breaking, and, though it turned out a comparative
failure, we secured a snapshot of one of them in the very
act. It was a rare situation, and one that made us long
for cinematograph apparatus to do it full justice.

Presently one of the beasts, a little more ambitious or
vicious than the rest, tried a very big branch of the tree
under which he was standing. It must have been over
twelve inches thick, and it resisted his efforts. Thrusting
a tusk into a fork, and curling his trunk round the offending
limb, he shook the whole tree furiously. This aroused
the veteran from his lethargy, and he emerged from behind
his tree, made a half turn, and stood looking straight at us.
We ought to have resisted the temptation when we saw his
tusks, but they looked nice and thick at about forty-five
yards, and whispering almost simultaneously, " He is good

ELEPHANT HUNTING

20I

enough," we opened fire with a .450 bullet near the right
eye. He staggered and reeled to one side, and for a second
looked as if he was going to turn and make off. Then he
recovered, and faced us again ; a second .450 in the fore-
head seemed to stimulate rather than discourage him, and,
pulling himself together, with ears outspread and trunk
upHfted he made straight for the spot on which we stood.
At the first report the rest of the group had made incon-
tinently off into the bush — yet not all of them. Another
large bull whom we had hardly noticed standing by during
his first advance, turned and joined his comrade, and for a
few steps they came on side by side, and it looked as if we
were going to have a couple of them to reckon with ;
then, at a third shot at the wounded one from the .360,
the second one turned off at an angle and disappeared, and
the veteran came on alone. He was within twenty yards
when the .360's second barrel missed fire. Regardless of a
bullet in the chest from the .350 that Chuma was carrying,
he still kept on. There was now just time for the one
carrying the .360 to reload and little more — the other with
the .450 having turned to descend into the donga so as
to attack his flank. We had the advantage of him in
our position on the bank, and the next shot took effect.
He was within fifteen paces and just beginning to clamber
up when a bullet between the eyes toppled him over in his
tracks.

It had been a trying moment for the natives apparently.
Chuma, of course, had stood his ground, and Nkamba and
Musa with spare cartridges were within a foot or two all
the while, but the rest, headed by Udala and the luncheon
baskets, had lost no time in seeking safety in flight. Once
assured that the elephant had succumbed they reappeared
— but not without an effort to communicate their fears to
us — " Don't go up to it," they cried frantically, " don't go
up to it ! It is not dead ! It is not dead — it will get up
again ! " Chuma's contempt was for once too much for his
customary caution, and with a bound he was on the top of
the fallen beast and dancing a tarantella on its ribs. How-
ever, it was as good as dead, and after a blink and a sigh

202 THROUGH THE HEART OF AFRICA

they all had to admit it. " By George," we said almost
simultaneously, " what a chance for a cinematograph
missed." We had been told just after leaving Entebbe
that a cinematographer had recently arrived in the country
with the express purpose of obtaining a record of the
death of an elephant, and there was no doubt, so extra-
ordinary had been the combination of circumstances —
position, view, light, and every detail of the scene — that
pictures of unique interest might have been secured in
comparative safety.

He stood lo ft. 6 in. at the shoulder. His tusks
measured 55|- in. and 55 in., showing 38 in. and 35 in.
outside, with a circumference of 18 in. each and weighing
49 lbs. and 46 lbs.

The following day we moved south-east vm Samu-
soni's, a camp at the junction of the Foweira and Palango
roads, to Benjamin's, a few miles south of the latter.

There was plenty of fresh spoor on the road near
Samusoni's, and later in the day we heard elephants
trumpeting close to our path, but in both cases it was
almost certainly the herd out of which we had killed two
days before, and we pushed on. Chuma, who had pre-
ceded us, went off thinking he had possibly found some-
thing in the tracks of a group of three, but came in soon
after us, reporting them to be a cow and two young bulls.

Scouts sent out on our arrival returned in the evening
reporting nothing, but next morning our hopes were
raised by the arrival of a native from a neighbouring
shamba who declared that his brother had just seen three
large elephants feeding close to his gardens. We started
off at once, and reached the shamba before midday, but
we were doomed to be the victims of native inaccuracy,
and to the exasperation of another blank day's hunting.
We were taken to the spot by the man who said he had
seen them, and shown the very tree on which they had
been feeding, he declared, but six hours before. He had
particularly noticed the tusks of the biggest, he said, and
they measured at least four feet outside the head. Half-
an-hour's tracking convinced us that he had been drawing

The SlKIl'I'ING A.NU L'l'KOOTING OF SEVERAL LARGE TREES.

ELEPHANT HUNTING

203

on his imagination and that the spoor was quite twenty
hours old, but a few minutes later we found a spot where
they had rested the previous evening and then separated,
and we took up and followed the tracks of the biggest.
About noon, the spoor being still quite stale, we were
startled by a rumble on our left. Mounting a convenient
ant-hill, we found ourselves looking at a large bull
elephant standing by himself in the shade, broadside on,
at about sixty yards. He was partly hidden by the
foliage of a small tree, but the grass being short and the
wind right, there was nothing to prevent us getting close
enough to be sure of his tusks. We eventually got
within less than ten paces on one side, and again some
twenty on the other, without him being aware of our
presence, but only to find that his tusks were smaller
than either of our first kills, being probably a good deal
under forty pounds.

It was a tempting chance for a photograph, but we
did not want to run the risk of having to shoot a beast
with thirty-pound ivory, so we turned away and left him.
Water was found a little way off, and while we sat and
lunched we could still hear him sleepily flapping his ears
amongst the leaves and pulling off an occasional branch
of the tree under which he was standing.

Reports of nothing more than a few cows and small
bulls greeted us on our return to camp, and we decided
to move on next day to Kishilisi, on Port Masindi, on the
Victoria Nile.

XIV

ELEPHANT HUNTING IN THE MASINDI
DISTRICT— II

The Victoria Nile at Kishilisi — Jackson's hartebeeste and steinbok —
Back to Kiliandongo's — More blank days after elephants — Risks run
by sJiamba dwellers — Our carriers go on strike, but are appeased —
Still more blank days— Our third elephant — An evening outing —
Crossing the Nile — Palango — Repatriation of ourRhodesian natives
— Arrival of Captain Place.

Reaching the Nile in three and a half hours we followed
it more or less south and reached camp at noon. The
landscape close to the river presents a very different
aspect to the country in which we had been travelling for
upwards of a month. The river itself is thickly edged
with papyrus, the grass on all sides is much shorter, and
the trees, which are plentiful, are mainly thorns.

The soil is black and evidently fertile, and large
quantities of excellent cotton is grown by the natives, as
well as crops of millet, maize, kasava, sim-sim, and sweet
potatoes.

The population live in the non-gregarious shamba
settlements, as in the rest of Bunyoro and Buganda,
cultivating the land all round their dwellings. They do
not appear to like the actual river bank, and do but little
fishing.

Of the natives some were Banyoro, and others, pro-
bably Bakedi, from the east side of the river. The latter
were the much less clad and less civilised in appearance,
but were unquestionably the finer in bearing and ph^'sique.
Elephants, we were told, came to the neighbourhood
during the rains, but none had been seen or heard of for
at least a month. Game of other kinds was reported to

be found, as a rule, feeding within a mile or two, so we

204

Chu.mamaboko standi.nc; by a Jackson's Haktebeeste.

ELEPHANT HUNTING

205

gave ourselves a rest from the more strenuous form of
sport and were content with securing a steinbok and
three hartebeeste in two short outings. This was, as a
matter of fact, the only game besides elephant and the
forest hog that we had seen during the forty odd days we
had been travelling in Uganda.

The third day after reaching Kishilisi we retraced our
steps to Kiliandongo, and heard on our arrival no less
than three distinct reports of elephants in the near
neighbourhood, probably all of the same herd.

Starting at daybreak for another attempt, we had a
fruitless day of ten and a half hours, during nine of which
we were on the move. It began with another instance of
the astounding inaccuracy of the local natives. One of
them, just after we had heard some trumpeting close to
the road, led us to a spot where, he declared, he had
seen a huge solitary bull feeding that very morning.
He had, as a matter of fact, seen nothing of the kind.
There had been a bull elephant there without a doubt,
but it had not been there that morning, it had not been
there alone, and — he had certainly not seen it. This
piece of native ineptitude delayed us a little in coming
up again with the herd, but it was not a full hour before
unmistakable rumblings and trumpetings showed that
we were pretty nearly in the middle of it. Then followed
a morning which, but for the merest details, was just the
same as any other of the long days we had spent among
the Uganda elephants.

There was the same eight to twelve foot grass, the
same big tree from which we located the various sections
of the herd, the same huge bull that looked so promising
at about three hundred yards as he emerged from a thick
patch into an open space as if coming straight for us, and
then did not even come at all, the same batches of calves
with their mothers, and of old cows that seemed for an
instant as if they had detected us and might be going to
make trouble, and the same failure at the end of it all.

After the herd had made their first move, and we had
moved after them some little way, our hopes went rather

2o6 THROUGH THE HEART OF AFRICA

higher than they had been for some time. We found
ourselves tracking an isolated group of four or five bulls,
whose spoor contained some of the largest footmarks we
had seen. A rather breathless chase along their well-
beatenbut tortuous tracks through the highest grass brought
us suddenly upon them having a mud bath in a swampy
pool, and only partly hidden by a screen of small trees.
But before they moved lazily on we had a good view of
their tusks, and there was not a twent^'-pounder amongst
them.

Poor old Chumamaboko, returning from twenty
minutes' scouting, sat down and gradually but freely gave
vent to his disappointed feelings.

" Waugh," he said, " what is the good of trying to
hunt elephants in this country of grass, of huge herds
and no big bulls ? There a7'e no big bulls. They have
gone somewhere else. Fikimgulu (big tuskers) don't walk
about with herds of cows and calves."

" Not in your country, Chuma," we said, " but they do
in this. Look at the big tusks you have seen yourself
that have been got by the white men in this country.
They were found in the big herds."

He snorted frank scepticism, and a local native
chipped in.

" There are big ones, and they are with the big herds,
but they keep in front and the cows keep all round them
so that they cannot be seen."

We had heard this before, and found it rather diffi-
cult to believe ; but to Chuma, coming from a local
romancer, too, it was the last straw.

" You have seen them, have you ? You have seen
them ? You ! Oh yes ! And you have seen bull elephants
feeding, you have seen, and measured, their tusks, you
have brought us to the place, and — they had not been
there since the last sun had set. You saw a mighty
chikungulu this morning, alone ; you took us to the spot :
ten cows had passed — the night before. You have seen
them, have you ? — you have seen the cow-guard round
the bulls ? Then tell me where is their spoor ? Do the

ELEPHANT HUNTING

207

cows lift them off their feet so that they leave no tracks ?
And do they lie upon them and cover them so that I see
nothing of them when I look down upon them from the
tree-tops ? Oh yes ! you have doubtless seen them ; let
me see, and perhaps I will believe."

Chuma's feelings were very much our own, but as
he was getting discouraged, we did our best to disguise
them. If we had any doubts left, the next half-hour effectu-
ally dispelled them. Less than half a mile on the herd had
stopped again, and first from one tree and then another we
got a view of every beast in it while it was slowly moving
off, the cows and calves trumpeting and squealing, the bulls
nonchalantly uprooting trees and tearing off branches as
they glided solemnly in their wake. There were no good
tuskers, so we sat down and lunched, and then turned
campwards.

The beasts had been within six hundred yards of us
while we rested, and were still audible for nearly an hour
of the two and a half that it took us to get back.

We passed through several small shambas on our way
that afforded ample corroboration of the complaints we
had heard from the natives that the elephants were in-
vading their shambas and destroying their crops and
bananas, and occasionally killing the inhabitants.

It is really rather surprising that their huts were not
more often annihilated. The shamba system, with the
huts of the owners scattered over a large area each in
the middle of his plantation and gardens, is of course
better adapted for watching the marauders than that of
the large compact village with its cultivated land neces-
sarily some distance away in the bush. But considering
the flimsy construction of most of the shamba dwellings
and their isolation, it is not to be wondered at that a herd
of elephants, intent on a meal, sometimes tramples them
and their inhabitants underfoot without noticing where
it is going.

The elephant's notorious aversion to the smell of
human beings would ensure immunity from such tramp-
ling of the inhabitants if they lived in villages — though
then they could not guard their crops so efficiently.

2o8 THROUGH THE HEART OF AFRICA

We were to have our patience still further tested in
the evening. Our carriers presented themselves in a
body, and demanded their pay. It was possible that the
dearth of small change, from which nearly the whole
Protectorate was at that time suffering, had aroused their
suspicions as to our solvency, so we met them with a
promise that they should be paid up to date on arrival at
Palango, adding that our stock of rupees was short, but
that a messenger was on the way with a fresh supply
(which was a fact). And we further reminded them that
the conclusion of a month's work did not necessarily mean
the conclusion of their contract, which was that they were
to accompany us as long as we wanted them, and we left
it at that for the night. Early in the morning, as we were
on the point of leaving camp to investigate a fresh report
of elephants, we were informed that the porters had struck
work. Summoned and asked what more they wanted to
say, they replied with no uncertain voice that they had no
intention of going to Palango. They would not mind
taking us to Butiaba, whither we had told them at Mubendi
that we might be going, but nothing would induce them
to cross the Nile. It was in vain that we assured them
that Palango station was only three miles across the Nile,
and only two days' journey from where we were. They
had their own notions of Lango amenities and Lango
hospitality to strangers — coloured, no doubt, by a story
we had heard at Samusoni's from a youth who had just
had some cattle looted from him in their country, and
who was ready to paint them and their delinquencies in
any kind of colour.

Ten of these malcontents were willing to go on with
us, but as the rest seemed to have made up their minds,
there was nothing to do but to make light of it. Any or
all of them, we said, could go home if they liked, and we
had no intention of trying to stop them, but — of course
they realised that they were running the risk not only of
losing their pay but of being imprisoned for breach of
contract at Mubendi. " Go at once," we said, " if you are
going, and we will get substitutes from the Mwami, and —

ELEPHANT HUNTING

209

thank you for the present of the pay due to you." With the
exception of the ten, they jumped to their feet without
another word, shouldered their bundles of meat, &c., and
started gaily down the road towards Masindi. The ten
sat and smiled — and it was not altogether at our expense.
We then made inquiries, and learnt that the local supply
of men might amount to a dozen, but certainly no more,
as all the males were away on telegraph construction work
or something of the kind. Asking them to do their best
we went off, wondering how on earth we were going to
get to Gondokoro in time to catch a steamer on the 28th
if the carriers persisted in their bluff, for though we could
get to Palango with twenty-two men, it would have to be
in reliefs, and would take seven or eight days.

Then came the day's work — yet once more to end in
failure. Again the local natives put us on to a hopelessly
wrong scent. Declaring that they had seen a herd that
morning, they brought us to spoor that was at least twenty-
four hours old. When, in response to their entreaties, we
eventually came on something fresh, it was not elephant
spoor at all, but the tracks and the blood of a buffalo
wounded apparently by a native hunter the day before.
It made but little difference. As a matter of fact, we
found the morning's spoor of the elephants in an hour's
time, only to find unmistakable proofs that they were
changing their feeding-ground and had been going so
steadily since dawn that it would have been quite hopeless
to catch them up.

Returning wearily to camp, we found some consola-
tion in the discovery that our carriers' bluff had failed.
All, without exception, had returned to work, and would
accompany us to Palango. We smiled, but let the matter
rest.

Mika, Mwami or Chief of Kiliandongo, who had been
absent, had meanwhile returned and paid us a visit in the
evening. He was obviously a man of position and import-
ance, as testified by the refreshing humility with which our
Hoima guide flopped on his knees and remained there while
conversing with him. A native of dignified bearing and

O

210 THROUGH THE HEART OF AFRICA

courteous and easy address, he came with his chair and
his court, and, smoking one or two of our cigarettes, sat
and discussed the hunting prospects of the neighbourhood
for half-an-hour with the cool judgment of an educated
European.

Following his advice we moved northwards to Reuben
(or Geki). The road had been cut up for some distance
by elephants — the herd which we had followed the previous
day, and another that on investigation proved to have gone
in the same direction, and probably quite as far. There
was no object in remaining, so we pushed on the next day
eastwards to Chisuna, a spot suggested by Mika as likely
to bring us success. Most of the way we were on the
Palango road, which we had struck first at Samusoni's.
In parts it had been ploughed out of all recognition by
elephants that had been disporting themselves upon it and
beside it a month or so before.

The old headman whose shaniba was close to our camp
brought us in word that a solitary bull elephant had been
feeding for several days in a neighbouring plantation. A
stick that was said to represent the length of his footmark
measured twenty-two inches, and our hopes accordingly
rose higher than they had been for some time. They would
bring us word at dawn should he revisit his feeding-ground
that night, and a little before sunrise we started oft to
meet them should they be on their way. But he had not
returned, nor was it known in which direction he had
moved. Scouts sent in likely directions found nothing
but a small herd of insignificant beasts, and our own
efforts were equally fruitless.

By midday we had returned to camp feeling more dis-
gusted than ever over the day's failure. It had not been
so long or hard a day's work as many others, but after
spending day after day with huge herds in which we knew
we had but a remote chance of finding a big tusker, it was
sufficiently exasperating that — with what was the most
promising prospect of the whole trip — the beast should
slip through our fingers.

While reflecting that evening on the arduous and

ELEPHANT HUNTING

211

profitless days spent in our efforts to secure something
more than an average specimen of the Uganda elephant —
to achieve something a little beyond the mere right to
boast that we had shot so many elephants, regardless of
number, age, sex, or size — we were reminded of some
correspondence that appeared in the Outlook in January
1909. "The dangers and labour men will undergo to
kill big game," wrote the contributor, " bear witness to
the absolute truth (sic) that taking life is the prime object
of the blood sportsman."

The elephant hunter undoubtedly has one eye on his
pocket when discriminating between the big and small
tusker — 'twere pointless to deny it ; but this blood-lust in-
dictment— well, unless it be a case of self-inflicted flagella-
tion as a balm to a conscience guilty of past excess, one
is tempted to wager that the petulant dogma of the inex-
perienced platitudinist would not long withstand a first-
hand knowledge of the attractions and hardships of the
pursuit of big game.

The following morning brought us no further news of
our elusive bull or of any other herd, so we moved on
again in the direction of Palango, deciding to camp at
Gabrieli's, about fifteen miles farther on.

Our time was getting uncomfortably short. Even
supposing it to be possible to get carriers at Palango to
go with us to Gondokoro — about which we had no par-
ticular reason for feeling sanguine- — we had but four days
to spare, and two more elephants to make up our number.

We were not much encouraged, therefore, when we
met the messenger we had sent to Palango a few days
before with a note from the clerk at Palango to say that
Captain Place, the Assistant District Commissioner, was
away from the station. However, he might conceivably
come back in time, and at the worst we should only have
to spend another month in the country, and catch the
January boat at Gondokoro.

Our messenger told us that a herd of elephant had
crossed the road a little farther on the same morning, and
half-way between Samusoni's (the same camp at which

212 THROUGH THE HEART OF AFRICA

we had previously spent a night) and GabrieH's we came
upon Chuma and others examining the spoor — not at all
optimistically ; optimism was not in the air. The spoor
was that of two or three bulls with no cows, and gave us
hope. But they were going the wrong way, i.e. their tracks
led south towards the only plantations within some miles,
and must have been made before they went to feed.
After feeding they may have gone left in the opposite direc-
tion, still farther south. However, some natives going
west told us that a herd had crossed the road and were
going north, and that they had just heard them trumpet-
ing. Chuma would not express an opinion — he was
frankly tired — and we decided to send on the loads to
Gabrieli's and go and investigate.

After following a mixed trail for a short distance we
found ourselves on the spoor of a single bull, and within
an hour of leaving the road we killed. This had been
quite easy work ; we had been close to him for some time,
but even though we climbed trees within a hundred yards
of him, the undergrowth and foliage were too dense to give
us a view. Finally from the top of a low ant-hill we caught
sight of a branch that he was shaking, some fifty paces
away, and within a couple of minutes he obliged us by
emerging from his hiding-place and coming straight
towards us. He had evidently faintly smelt something of
which he disapproved, and which he wished to investigate.
At thirty yards he showed his tusks, and though not the
eighty- or ninety-pounder we had been dreaming of, he was
plainly as big as those we had shot, and we drew a bead.

We had a good strategic position on the ant-hill, and
though we planted a few in his ribs as he reeled and
staggered and sat down with a squealing trumpet-blare,
the first two in the forehead would doubtless have been
enough. His measurements were : height at shoulder,
ID ft. 9 in. ; forefoot diameter 21 in., circumference 62 in. ;
tusks, length outside lip, 42 in. and 39 in., greatest girth,
i8| and 18 J in. ; weight and length, 53 lbs. and 51 lbs.
and 69 in. and 66 in. respectively.

We reached camp at four, and soon after had a visit

ELEPHANT HUNTING

213

from the Mwami Gabrieli, who told us very much the same
story as we had heard at Chisuna, viz. that a single
huge bull elephant had been frequenting the gardens for
several days, and even chasing the inhabitants out of their
shambas.

On our suggestion Gabrieli went off at once to tell
his people to scout round for fresh news, and we wondered
if our luck, almost too late, was really going to turn.

At five o'clock there appeared a breathless native, who
declared that the said monster was even then close by
near the gardens of his shamba ; that he had, in obedience
to our request, been looking about for his tracks, when a
sudden trumpet in his very ears made him take to his
heels. It was close enough, he said, for us to get there
and possibly back again before dark.

There was a good deal of scepticism in the reception
of his news, but he stuck to his story under cross-
examination ; and as it wanted forty minutes to sunset,
there was nothing to be lost, at any rate, by following the
spoor for twenty minutes or so and then, if nothing tran-
spired, returning to camp.

It took us just twenty-five minutes to reach the spot,
but only to find that — with the best intentions, perhaps —
we had been fooled again. There were tracks, it is true,
but they were of a cow and one or two calves, and
certainly some six or seven hours old.

Now there was an interesting contribution to the
study of Bantu psychology. Our informant had obviously
not seen or heard the beasts just before he had come to
tell us. It is more than probable that he had not seen or
heard them at all, and that he had only just begun, in
obedience to Gabrieli's orders, to look for the tracks of
the notorious bull. While looking he comes upon traces
of some elephants : he does not stop to investigate : he is
looking for the traces of a big bull elephant who is a con-
stant marauder and who is credited with ferocity towards
any human being who crosses his path, and he immediately
jumps to the conclusion that the tracks he has seen are
those of that bull and none other. The mental process

214 THROUGH THE HEART OF AFRICA

by which he brought himself deliberately to state that he
had actually seen and been put to flight by the animal is
harder to analyse. It could not have been a mischievous
attempt to deceive ; for all he knew, condign punishment
might have been meted out to him then and there for his
falsehood, and, further, he took an obvious pride in being
given the opportunity of proving the accuracy of his
account.

Little use in either reasoning with or revenging one-
self upon such. One can only dismiss it as an unusually
striking instance of the deficiency in the power of asso-
ciation that is a characteristic of the negro intellect.

Naturally we did not waste any more time on the
spoor, and retracing our steps reached camp again just
before dark.

Some, if not all of us had been in considerable danger
on the way out to those gardens, though we only found it
out just as we got there. Our amiable old " muttyantpala"
(or headman of the carriers), who was allowed a badge of
office in the shape of an old Snider rifle (without ammuni-
tion), apparently elated at the possible prospect of a second
elephant in one day, or at his unique opportunity of being
in at the death, accompanied us on our sally, brandishing
his weapon and executing a silent but fantastic war-dance
round us, or prancing along with the weapon at the
" present " as if facing some tremendous beast.

As we were on the point of turning back, somebody
happened to look closely at his gun. It was loaded —
he had got a cartridge from somewhere — and at full-cock.
B^or something over a mile, mostly through tangled grass
and creepers, he had been carrying it thus. The slightest
thing might have sent it oft', and goodness only knew
where the thing had been pointing all the time.

The next day, while waiting at Gabrieli's for the tusks,
a note reached us from Captain Place saying that he
hoped to be able to get us what carriers we needed in
four days' time, and further encouraging us with regard
to the prospects of finding elephant on the Kole River on
our way to Nimule.

ELEPHANT HUNTING

215

Under these circumstances we decided to spend no
more time in the Masindi district, although another herd
had been reported close, but to go on to Palango at
once.

Leaving at about seven o'clock we reached the ferry
in two and a half hours. The river proper here is some
four hundred yards broad, and is fringed on the western
side with a broad belt of swamp.

The crossing occupied each boat-load half-an-hour,
the tedious part of it being the negotiation of the muddy
and tortuous passage through the fringe. A canoe arrived
at our landing-place just at the right moment, and others
were hastened from the opposite side as soon as we
reached the open water. The canoes that took us over
were some of the hugest dug-outs we had ever seen.
That in which we crossed comfortably held a dozen of us
with a few loads and our bicycles, while there were others
which were used for transporting sheep and cattle. One
of these we met when half-way across carrying a few of
both kinds of stock, tethered by rope passed through
holes near the top of the gunwale.

On the farther bank we found some unusually good
specimens of the conical basket in which the local natives
catch their fish, but had not an opportunity of seeing
it used.

Three miles on a straight road up a slight incline
brought us to Palango station ; the last mile led through
a regular belt of borassus palms, with practically no other
trees, and the last few hundred yards between flourishing
cotton plantations.

The offices are placed on high ground at the foot of
a bunch of huge stony kopjes. At the top of a pass
through these is built the resident official's house, with a
stupendous dome-shaped rock on its south-eastern side.
It was hot, but there was a pleasant breeze. The view
from the station was spacious, but monotonous and flat,
broken only by a clump of low hills to the south-east and
the low range beyond the river towards Port Masindi to
the south-west.

2i6 THROUGH THE HEART OF AFRICA

Captain Place was still away, but had kindly sent word
that we were to make ourselves at home, so we pitched
our tents in an open space amongst the rocks near his
house.

Our Mubendi carriers were paid off, and returned to
their homes the following day. Our Wawemba had
by this time made up their minds that they had
come quite far enough — if not too far — already, and
nothing would induce them to contemplate the prospect
of coming the rest of the way to Gondokoro and return-
ing by the Nimule-Butiaba route by boat. We tried to
convince them that it would entail their being but
very little longer away from home, but did not press
the point.

With Musa and the two servants we had engaged at
Hoima, as well as the boy Kasonde, who was to come
right through, we were, of course, quite adequately
staffed.

They had done an exceptionally long journey and in
— to them — exceptionally strange lands, and they had
really done remarkably well. The Central African native
is not a traveller by nature, and adapts himself less easily
to new conditions and altered modes of life than the
white man. Added to their bewilderment at strange
coinage, strange languages, and strange foods was their
conviction that, at the best, it was going to be nearly half
a year before they saw their homes again. Striking as
was their confidence in us generally, they found it diffi-
cult to believe that a journey on which we had spent
nearly five months could be accomplished by direct routes
in less than ten weeks.

As we had made arrangements for their passage on
the lake steamer from Entebbe to Mwanza, and for their
maintenance should they be delayed while waiting for
connections en route, there was little likelihood of their
meeting with any difficulties on the way ; and, as a
matter of fact, we heard in the course of time that they
reached their homes without mishap in nine and a half
weeks, having drawn without any hitch the ration allow-

Fish Basket on the \'ictoria Nile.

ELEPHANT HUNTING 217

ances we had deposited for them at Entebbe, Mwanza,
Tabora, and Abercorn.^

Captain Place returned two days later, and lost no
time in procuring carriers for our journey to Gondokoro,
meanwhile making us his guests.

^ They have now rejoined us once more in Northern Rhodesia, and are none
the worse for their long journey.

XV

THROUGH THE LANGO AND ACHOLI
COUNTRY

The Lango — The system of governing through Baganda agents —
Description of the clothing, ornaments, accoutrements, villages,
and huts of the Lango — Start from Palango — Our escorts and
carriers — Travelling in the Lango country — Two swampy rivers — •
Mount Moru — Reception at Mwaka's — The Lango at work — Mwaka's
"army" — Gulu — The Acholi — A hunting party — Oliya's village —
His cadet corps — More trouble with the bicycle — Nimule.

Once across the Victoria Nile we had left behind us the
better known regions of Uganda with their advanced
and partly civilised inhabitants, and had entered a wilder
region — one concerning which very little is known, and
which is peopled by races as yet untamed and un-
sophisticated. It was the beginning of a section of
our journey that was rich in ethnographical interest, and
over which we would willingly have lingered had we
not had to hasten our steps to catch a steamer at the
other end.

Geographically, too, interesting and useful work might
have been done, for though the district commissioners at
Palango, Koba, and Nimule have entered the country,
no European had passed through direct from the first-
named station to the last, and but little mapping has been
undertaken in any direction. However, the making even
of sketch-maps takes time, and having to cover about
two hundred and seventy-five miles in sixteen or seven-
teen days, we decided that it would be hopeless to
attempt it.

In the study of the interesting races through whose
country we passed we were a little more fortunate, as we
had continual opportunities for observing them in spite

2lS

THE LANGO AND ACHOLI COUNTRY 219

of the short time at our disposal. Not only did we live
amongst them all the time, but the friendly nature of our
reception enabled us to gain a fairly close insight into the
nature and habits of the Lango and Acholi at home.
Both Captain Tufnell and Captain Place warned us that
after the first two days we should probably see no natives
at all in the villages, and certainly no women, as they
would all flee into the bush at our approach. As it
turned out, at no stage in the journey did any natives
show less concern at our arrival — not a soul allowing our
presence to interfere in any way with the ordinary tenor
of his life. This was all the more remarkable not only
because no other travellers had passed that way, and the
advent of two Europeans might consequently be looked
upon as a novelty, but also because the relations between
the administration and the Lango are not yet free from
occasional [^differences of opinion. Indeed it was only
while we were at Palango that Captain Place returned
from taking steps to avenge the death of one of the
Baganda agents and his followers. Accompanied as we
were, therefore, by a police escort, the natives might
easily have suspected us of being concerned with these
reprisals, but our presence amongst them aroused neither
fear nor curiosity.

The Lango and their northern neighbours the Acholi
are allied to, and speak practically the same tongue as,
the Jaluo Kavirondo in the westernmost province of
British East Africa, and the Bakedi (which only means
Naked People) who live to the north of the Ripon Falls.
This group appears to come of a different stock to the
races around them, their language not being a " Bantu "
tongue, but, apparently, a guttural mixture of Nilotic and
Gala origin tinged with West African phonology.^

1 According to Sir Harry Johnston ^Tke Uganda Protectorate, vol. ii.), the
Nile negroes — including Shiluk> Dinka, Acholi, and Lango, &c — were probably
driven from the north by the first determined Hamitic invasion of the Egyptian
Soudan and Abyssinia, and in places were checked by the thinner stream of
Hamitic immigrants (Gala) who were continually entering negro Nile-land from
the north-east. This created the Masai and Suk types, and the temporary
successes of this powerful blend carried the modified Nile languages westward as
far as the Bari country, where the language became tinged with West African

220 THROUGH THE HEART OF AFRICA

To start the administration of the Lango country ^
recourse has been had to native " agents " who are re-
cruited from the Baganda. This system was apparently
inevitable owing to local conditions, but is generally
admitted to be an unfortunate necessity, and the obvious
disadvantages of such a system appear to have been
aggravated by the inadequate scale of pay allowed to these
agents. There are ten of them in the Lango country,
and they are scattered about in small stockaded forts, in
which they live and from which they control the inhabi-
tants, getting them in for road work, which, as the poll-
tax has not yet been introduced, is the only form of
taxation to which they are at present subjected. Each
agent has a staff of fourteen armed followers, Baganda
like himself, and — excepting the head agent, who receives
Rs.30 — is paid Rs.io per month.

Theoretically the agents are all chiefs whose followers
accompany them for nothing on account of their position,
but we gathered that only two out of the ten have any
pretensions to that title, and that therefore their followers
do not come to the Lango country without expecting to
benefit financially by so doing. As Rs.io is of course
quite inadequate pay for fifteen men, they add to their
salaries by keeping trade goods for the purchase of sheep.
This stock of trade goods tends to become a mere cloak
for illegal confiscation or for appropriating to themselves
stock that has been confiscated in the name of the Govern-
ment. In other words, they are tempted either to steal

phonology. The constant stream of Nilotic negroes following one another in
waves of immigration, carried this negro type and dialect to the north-east of
N'ictoria Nyanza (Jaluo Kavirondo). South-west of the Victoria Nile and west
of the Bahr-el-Gebel (except for the Aluro to the north-west of Lake Albert)
they were checked by the Bantu, who sprang some three thousand years ago from
a horde of West African natives that poured into these parts, driving out the
pygmy — prognathous group — whom they found there. Sir Harry Johnston
classes the group of languages spoken by these people as the " Masai-Turkana-
Bari " group, which, he says, " constitutes a very loosely knit group of languages,
each of which, perhaps, resembles the other slightly more than it approaches
dialects outside this grouping." He adds that " there is an obvious relationship
between the Masai and Nilotic tongues — Dinka, Shiluk (Shwolo), Dyur, Shan-
gala, Acholi, Aluro, Lango, and Jaluo."

* This system of government by native agents has not been introduced into
the Acholi country, but it is in force, we believe, among the Bakedi and also in
the Elgon district.

Weighing our third pair of tusks in camp.

THE LANGO AND ACHOLI COUNTRY 221

from their employers or from those over whom they rule
— the inevitable result with any agents, white or black, who
are underpaid.

If the rate of pay accorded to these agents were on a
more liberal scale, irregular additions to their incomes and
the trading which cloaks them could be entirely prohibited,
and the extra expense entailed would be to a large extent
counterbalanced by the reduction in the numbers of
Government cattle and sheep that are now returned as
" dead " or " lost," as well as by the benefit that would
ensue from the removal of many causes of friction at
present existing between the governors and governed.
We were favourably impressed with the agents whom we
met, who appear to be wonderfully little disliked consider-
ing their anomalous position ; but though the men chosen
for these posts may be well selected, the system is a bad
one, and, if it is inevitable, it should be rendered as
innocuous as possible by the adoption of an adequate scale
of pay.

During our stay at Palango we met Dora, one of the
principal and most friendly of the Lango chiefs — a man
who has very considerable influence over his people, and
rules them directly without the assistance of an agent.
When a few more chiefs of his type and standing follow
Dora's example, and cease their hostility or opposition to
the Government, the services of the Baganda agents will
doubtless be dispensed with. Dora kindly told off a
sub-chief, Mwaka (or Kelomwaka), to accompany us on
the first stage of our journey, and doubtless much of the
smoothness which marked our passage through the
country was due to this man's presence. He was accom-
panied by two buglers and an escort of armed men,
supplementary to the police provided by Captain Place.

Dora brought up two of his wives as well as several
other ladies to pay us a visit. The wives were clothed in
cotton cloths — though one of them removed hers when
facing the camera — but the remainder were in the national
costume, consisting chiefly of tattoo marks — which are
more numerous and more pronounced than any we have

222 THROUGH THE HEART OF AFRICA

seen elsewhere — a small girdle round the waist, from
which hangs, in front, a diminutive apron — sometimes
made of native wrought-iron chain-work, and sometimes
simply of strands of grass or hair — and behind a short
" tail " sticking out at right angles to the body, from which,
in the case of married women, a long tail, made of hair,
hangs down to the ground. Their ornaments are neck-
laces, anklets, wristlets, rings, and earrings of native iron,
or, more rarely, copper from the Congo, or imported brass,
while the neck, forehead, and ears are often further
adorned with shells and fish bones. The hair is plaited
and is worn long.

The men, who are of fine physique, occasionally wear
a small skin loin-cloth, but more often a small skin apron
is suspended in front from a girdle or corset of strands of
twisted grass. Some of the young bloods aflfect very
tight lacing with these grass corsets, which gives them a
ridiculous appearance, while most of them have a habit of
binding the upper arm, when young, with an iron wire
bracelet, which causes a shocking distortion of the muscles
of the biceps. In one case that we measured, we found
that what should have been the thickest part of the biceps
measured only inches over the wire, while below,
between the " ornament " and the elbow, the measurement
was no less than inches. Their hair is allowed to
grow long and is welded in a cone — something after the
manner of the Mashukulumbwe, but not to such an exag-
gerated extent — which is often supplemented by a warthog
tush, fastened in the hair behind the cone, the whole head
being encircled by a band of fish bones or cowrie shells.
Iron earrings are frequently worn, and necklaces of iron,
iron and copper, or beads from which is suspended a small
antelope's horn or other charm.

Perhaps the most striking feature in the Lango's
remarkable, if limited, wardrobe is the crescent-shaped
glass ornament worn in the lower lip. This is inserted
through a hole at the base of the lip, and is made from
pieces of glass bottles carefully filed down. As there is
no centre of civilisation near, bottles have not yet become

"Costume consisting chiefly of tatoo marks, a small girdle round
the waist from which hangs, in front, a miniature ai'ron . . of iron

chain-work . . OR STRANDS OF HAIR, AND BEHIND . . A LONG TAIL HANGS
DOWN TO THE GROUND."

THE LANGO AND ACHOLI COUNTRY 223

common, and we found that no present was more accept-
able among these dusky dandies than an old bottle. They
have rather striking features, and some have quite aquiline
noses, and lips of only moderate thickness. The colour
of the skin is the chocolate hue usual in this part of
Africa.

They all carry sticks, and mostly use a rough spade
instead of the almost universal African hoe. All are armed
with spears and bows and arrows, and many have guns,
which have come in from Abyssinia, though they are not
so plentiful as among the Acholi.

There is a somewhat peculiar difference between these
people and the kindred Wakavirondo, in that while the
latter show no inclination to adopt clothing of any kind
either European, or the ordinary blanket or coloured
print, the Lango seem quite pleased to wear anything they
can get hold of. Reference to the photograph of Mwaka's
" army " will show that half of them are clothed, while all
the chiefs that we encountered were wearing European
clothing of some kind or other.

The usual Lango village is surrounded by a stockade
of poles, and contains from ten to fifty huts built close
together side by side with the grain stores. The huts are
shaped like beehives, with low walls and high, steep-
pitched roofs on which the thatch is laid in step-like
ridges. The doorways are more or less circular and very
low, those in bachelors' huts being so small that the
occupants can hardly squeeze through them,^ while even
the benedicts have to crawl on their hands and knees
when entering or leaving their abodes. This is, of course,
a great convenience to raiding parties, as they can spear
the inhabitants between the shoulder-blades as they crawl
slowly and awkwardly from their huts.

The Lango appear to regard raiding as one of the

^ Although we searched diligently for them we failed to find in any village we
visited, either among the Lango or Acholi, any of the bachelors' huts raised on
piles like a grain store or pigeon-cote in which it is said the bachelors are shut
up at night — the surrounding ground being covered with sand every evening so
that any night excursions on the part of a gay young spark would be patent to
his elders.

224 THROUGH THE HEART OF AFRICA

chief pleasures of life, and it is because he interferes with
this pursuit that the white man's presence is rather
resented, as would be the domination in England of a
race that made illegal cricket, football, and other national
sports. A happy, unsophisticated crowd, they are in
reality very friendly and well-disposed, and their outbreaks
are really due to their innate exuberance of spirits which
is liable to get out of hand at the beer season. This is
the season at which they generally raid each other, a
neighbouring tribe, or even one of the Government
agents, but as is natural with such a light-hearted people,
they appear to bear no ill-will for reprisals taken after a
raid.

Their staple food consists of the small red millet,
supplemented by sweet potatoes. Bananas, which form
the main dietary of the Baganda and Banyoro on the
other side of the Nile, are not grown except at the forts
of the Baganda agents, who have also introduced the
cultivation of cotton.

On December iith, our quota of carriers being com-
pleted, we said good-bye to our host and chief Dora and
set out for the North. We had fifty-seven carriers for
ourselves and three for the police. Kasonde, the sole
remaining Rhodesian, two local personal servants, a
cook's boy, Musa, a local headman to boss up the loads,
two Lango gun-bearers, Mwaka and another repre-
sentative of chief Dora, and an escort of nineteen armed
men, six of whom were police, the rest being irregulars,
including two buglers.

The orders issued to the police, in our presence, were
as follows : —

I. To escort us and our carriers to Gondokoro, and
to escort our carriers back to Palango.
II. Not to loot.

III. Not to allow the carriers to loot.

IV. In the event of the local natives failing to pro-

vide food, to escort the carriers, when in-
structed by us, to the village gardens, so that

"The men . . of fine physique, occasionally wear a skin loin-cloth,
but more often a small skin apron is suspended from . . a corset

OF . . GRASS."

THE LANGO AND ACHOLI COUNTRY 225

they could dig sufficient sweet potatoes for
their needs.

V. Not to fire at any natives except by our instruc-
tions.

The raison d'etre for this escort was twofold. Firstly,
no carriers would have consented to travel a day with
us without them, as had they attempted to return alone
few if any would have reached home again in safety.
Secondly, although the chances of an attack on a caravan
headed by Europeans was extremely remote, obstacles
might have been encountered, and had anything happened
to us punitive measures would have been necessary, so-
the provision of an escort was really a preventive
measure.

We did not leave the station till 2.15, though our
loads had gone ahead at noon ; and as we had fourteen
miles to cover we were unable to halt at Dora's village,
as we should have liked to have done, to witness a big
dance that was in progress.^

The path soon led over a rough piece of dried swamp
on which the footmarks made earlier in the season had
dried in such a way as to leave a surface like that of
badly laid cobble-stones.

As the track was but nine or ten inches wide, very
erratic, and fringed with high grass which prevented the
rider from seeing what lay ahead of the numerous curves
and twists, we soon gave up the attempt to cycle.

On dismounting we discovered that one of the two-
savages engaged to accompany the bicycles had vanished,
so one of the policeman shouldered the machine — ari
earnest of the manner in which, throughout the journey,
all the members of our escort cheerfully undertook any
odd job that came their way. After a short walk we
arrived at the Parosa, a swampy tributary of the Nile

' As so little is known of the country through which we were about to pass,
the description of the next ten days will be given in rather greater detail and in
more exact chronological order than that in which the other stages of our journey
have been described ; and, for the same reason, the illustrations are more
numerous.

P

226 THROUGH THE HEART OF AFRICA

which has earned a niche for itself in our memories
through the shortcomings of its canoes. That in which
we were accommodated let in water at the rate of some
three gallons a minute, though some energetic baling,
coupled with a paddler's dexterity in placing his heel over
one of the principal apertures, enabled us to reach the
other side without actually sinking. Here we struck the
road, which though bumpy in places was, on the whole,
rideable and had no gradients sufficiently steep to make it
necessary to dismount.

A fine open camp with a big, airy handa marks the
first halting-place near Kelodaki's village, close to which
is the fort of a Muganda "agent." The latter greeted us
on arrival with a present of a sheep, and later produced
the food we required for our carriers. In a perfect
plague of mosquitoes, due to the proximity of the Kole
River, the corporal mounted the guard, and our two
buglers — one of whom was clothed in a blue jersey, white
trousers, and a fez cap, while the other had nothing at all
except his bugle — sounded " Officers' Mess," and we sat
down to dinner, but we were soon driven to our tents to
shelter inside our mosquito nets.

"Reveille" went at 4.25, but it was seven o'clock
before we made a start, as our carriers were new to the
game and had muddled up the loads, while three, more
faint-hearted than the rest, had decided to bolt before
further advance into the country of their exuberant
neighbours rendered unescorted return a somewhat unsafe
form of recreation. After half-an-hour's walk our road
crossed the Kole River, which was of greater breadth and
volume than the Parosa, but luckily boasted a more trust-
worthy canoe. The carriers went on foot, and by making
a detour were able to avoid the deepest parts. We two,
together with Musa and Mwaka, sat in the canoe, which
was pulled and pushed across by two swarthy Lango.
For the most part the water was barely waist-deep, but
once or twice it reached their shoulders, and on one
occasion proved too deep for them, so the " bow " man
swam across, and when he reached a shallower spot the

"The doorways are more of less circular and very low.''

THE LANGO AND ACHOLI COUNTRY 227

" stern " ferryman pushed us over to him, and then
followed himself. After a quarter of an hour we reached
the mud on the far side, which was deep enough to get
comfortably over the tops of our boots.

About eleven o'clock we arrived at the next camp at
Kelobong's, near the Toshi River, fourteen miles from
Kelodaki's. Except for one strip of uncleared thorny
bush the track had been quite good for cycling — the only
incident being the explosion of a back tyre, and the dis-
covery that one of the two spare covers supplied with the
bicycle did not fit the wheel : yet another chapter in the
long list of catastrophes that had befallen this machine.

In the early afternoon we visited two of the neigh-
bouring villages and took some photographs of the huts
and their owners and their cattle. The latter seem to
thrive throughout this country, and are the principal
source of wealth among the Lango. On our return we
were visited by Kelobong, whom we had met with Captain
Tufnell between Hoima and Masindi. He greeted us as
old friends, and expressed his pleasure at seeing us in his
country. After talking about the wonders of civilisation
at Hoima, he took his leave and returned to his home.

The next day we were surprised and amused to find
that no less than forty local Lango had been impressed to
fill the four vacancies in our caravan, and imagined that
the necessary four would be chosen and the rest dismissed.
Not a bit of it ; they were all told to come along, and so
far from minding, they began cheerily fighting for loads.
We did not interfere, for with two men for each of the
heavier loads it meant more rapid progress. Moreover, it
was apparently the local custom, and the Lango seem to
have no objection to carrying a load gratis for one day,
though, as we discovered later, nothing will induce them
to go for two, nor will such local substitutes go beyond
what they consider is the day's trek, even if the rest of the
caravan is going on.

Our route lay in a north-easterly direction along the left
bank of the Toshi, and as the road ended abruptly soon
after passing an agent's fort at Wini, we had a hard bit of

228 THROUGH THE HEART OF AFRICA

tramping through a half-dried swamp on a tussocky track
like a sheep walk. This only lasted an hour, and then
the road began again, so we remounted our cycles and
reached the agent's fort at Zakayo's at 12.40, having
covered sixteen and a half miles, ten of which had been on
foot, and all of which had been intersected at frequent
intervals by swamps. The country differed somewhat
from that which we had been passing through recently,
being a moderately open, undulating land clothed with a
few scrubby trees and bushes, and short, fine grass not
more than four feet high — a good example of the un-
reliability of rumour. At Hoima we had spoken feelingly
of the elephant grass around Muhemba's at the south-east
of the Albert Nyanza, and were assured that the grass
there was nothing compared with what we should find in
the parts we were going to visit. In the twenty-three
days during which we wandered about between Hoima and
Palango we found nothing half as bad as the grass round
Muhemba's, and up here it was, as we have said, rarely
more than four feet high.

The soil here is fairly fertile, but the country is poorly
watered. It carries large numbers of cattle, sheep, and
goats. We saw no game, and only a little old elephant
spoor. Judging by the skins the natives wear, the bush
buck is the commonest animal, or at any rate that which
is most easily killed.

The following day, one of us was suffering from a touch
of fever, so we decided to make a short trek to Yusufu's
(9I miles).

Our corvee of the preceding day had returned home,
but we had no difficulty in securing others to take their
place. There were not more than half a dozen invalids
among our gang, but no less than fifty-six local Lango
were produced to relieve them, and not one of them would
be denied. So far from showing any disinclination to oblige
us by carrying our gear for a day, they seemed to regard
it as the chance of their lives ! Drawn up in a line at the
side of the road they quietly awaited the word, and then
threw themselves as one man upon the surplus baggage.

THE LANGO AND ACHOLI COUNTRY 229

As there was obviously not enough to go round, the
most lively scrimmage ensued. Jostling, grabbing, scratch-
ing, punching, and even using their sticks on each other's
skulls and ribs, they fairly fought for their loads, and had
it not been for the interference of a couple of police with
a couple of serviceable viboko ^ the process of selection
would probably have been terminated by the survival
of the fittest. Hostilities, however, died away quite as
suddenly as they had begun. A few more of the old
gang affected temporary indisposition and gave up their
places to meet the sudden demand, the heavier packages
were shared by two, three, or even four of our cheerful
substitutes, and all the new-comers were eventually accom-
modated. There was no sign of any inclination to run
away or abandon their loads once they had started, and
there was no doubt that, as long as too sustained an effort
were not demanded of them, they thoroughly enjoyed the
novelty of a little work — though load-carrying, with their
elaborate head-dress, was rather an awkward occupation.

At Yusufu's, Mwaka asked leave to go ahead of us to
his village (which we hoped to reach the next day), so as
to be there to receive us ; and we took the opportunity
of sending a note to the Assistant District Commissioner,
who was engaged in building a new station at Gulu to
ask him if he could give us some idea of the distance to
Nimule. Our friendly chief promised to send out men to
see if there were any elephants in the neighbourhood, and,
should the search prove successful, to send a man to meet
us en route with the news.

Kelo Mwaka and Kelobong were good examples of
what their subjects may become when they have been in
longer and closer contact with the white man and his
government. Their cheerful, playful but good-tempered
and good-natured characteristics carry with them the con-
viction that, properly handled, the Lango will before long
be as loyal a tribe as any in the Protectorate. It is to be
hoped that there will be no attempt to civilise them too
rapidly. That a tribe of genuine savages should be able

* Hippo-hide whips.

230 THROUGH THE HEART OF AFRICA

to assimilate civilisation as the Baganda — a nation with a
culture and a history of its own — are assimilating it, is
manifestly impossible. The result of precocious aspira-
tions could only be the acquisition of a thin and offensive
veneer in place of the best qualities that they now possess,
and it would be folly to encourage them.

To us, who had lived for some years amongst natives
but little further removed from their former savagery, our
visit to these people, after rather a surfeit of the educated
Baganda and Banyoro, was an unmixed pleasure. It is
impossible not to appreciate the work that is being done
in assisting these latter to absorb what is most suitable in
civilisation, and the almost unique opportunity for the
development of a cultured and highly organised African
community, but there is something undeniably more
attractive in one's intercourse with tribes that have not yet
reached even the primary stages of transition and are still
in a condition of untouched and primitive simplicity.

Nothing could have exceeded the obliging courtesy
that we enjoyed at the hands of the Baganda and Banyoro
chiefs, but it lacked the childlike and open frankness of
our intercourse with the Lango.

They were as free from the cadging or grovelling spirit
as from any awkwardness or bashfulness, and greeted us
as welcome visitors with a friendly equality that was as
refreshing as it was surprising.

The sick man being rather worse than better the
following day he was carried to Mwaka's — fourteen miles
— in a machila or hammock improvised from a game net
provided by the Muganda agent Yusufu, who was the
last agent that we were to see.

The track was bad and rarely fit for cycling. It was
crossed by a dozen small swamps, most of them ankle
deep, and two up to the knees, and neither of us was
sorry, after four hours of it, to reach our camp.

On our way we passed several granite boulders, on
which the Lango had gathered to watch us pass. Many
of them were standing on one leg after the manner of the
Dinka and kindred tribes.

THE LANGO AND ACHOLI COUNTRY 231

Some four miles from our destination stood the hill
known as Mount Moru (3900 feet), near which the
remnants of the Soudanese mutineers had made their last
camp. These numbered about a hundred, and as they
caused trouble by raiding the neighbouring villages, were
finally overthrown by an expedition under Major Radcliffe
about the year 1901.

Mwaka met us with an apology of engaging naivete.

" I am sorry," he said, " that I have not got a better
camp for you, but I only got here early this morning, and
this is all I have been able to do in the time."

" This " consisted of a clean and freshly built banda,
with two doors and three windows, and measuring twenty-
four feet by twelve, a hut for a kitchen, and others for our
staff, all standing in a level open space which he had
chosen for us near his village, and from which his natives-
were still zealously clearing the grass and undergrowth that
remained ! All this was for our use for one afternoon
and night, done gratuitously and unasked.

We had seldom seen natives putting their hearts into-
their work as these Lango were doing. They hardly
paused to look at us when we arrived, but concentrated
all their energy on the wielding of their quaint spades,
chaffing and bantering one another the while in the highest
good humour.

After lunch we went down to the village and took a
few photographs of the inhabitants. A baby that ran to
its mother and howled vigorously when it caught sight of
us was the only member of the community that seemed
even interested in our presence. We might have been
Lango ourselves for all the notice that was taken
of us.

At three o'clock Mwaka brought us a present consisting
of 127 bundles of food, two sheep, some milk, honey
(which was tasted by the bearer before being handed to
us), twenty eggs, and some beer. We had a good hour's
entertainment photographing some of the sportsmen who
brought up this profuse offering. They were " clothed "
in typical Lango fashion, and were quite delighted at being

232 THROUGH THE HEART OF AFRICA

photographed, as well as at the interest taken in their
ornaments, of which some were very proud.

We had heard with some interest that the " body-
guards " or corps of irregulars maintained by the Lango
and Acholi chiefs were accustomed to drill in the manner
of the regular forces of the Protectorate, and, gathering
that Mwaka would be only too willing to hold a parade
for our benefit, we expressed a desire that he should do
so. He assented with alacrity, and in less than a quarter
of an hour the martial strains of bugles and side-drums
announced his approach, and he appeared at the head of
his " army." They were some thirty strong, comprising
two drummers, three buglers, and twenty-five rank and
file, who had discarded their firearms and provided them-
selves with stout sticks in their place.

The front ranks were made up of the buglers, drummers,
and some others, all more or less clothed, with the excep-
tion of one of the buglers ; the other two ranks were in
the orthodox national costume — consisting, besides a few
ornaments, of an apron averaging two inches by ten.

They marched on to the scene in perfect time, the
buglers blowing a really creditable march, reached the end
of the short stretch of road that formed one side of our
camping-ground, halted, and " marked time." This was
done standing firmly on the right leg with the body thrown
gracefully back, brandishing the left foot in the air and
bringing it down with a well-timed thud.

It was really a moving spectacle. At first it was all
we could do to get into our shelter before bursting into
laughter. When we had pulled ourselves together and
emerged we were really not sure whether we wanted to
laugh or cry. Our police escort did not move a muscle,
and their example helped considerably our self-control.

After marking time for a space in the same position
they turned about. The scantily clad rear ranks, who
were now the front ranks, were as solemn as judges, and
evidently deadly keen on doing the thing seriously. A
minute or two later they marched back to the corner of
the "parade ground," marked time, "abouted," marked

THE LANGO AND ACHOLI COUNTRY 233

time again, and so on da capo, three or four times, some-
times in ranks and sometimes in fours. The buglers
changed their tune more than once, and Mwaka marched
at their side carrying his stick Hke a sword, issuing the
words of command and watching their every movement
hke a young captain who has just got his company.

It was an amazing thing to find this keenness on
civihsed methods of soldiering amongst a primitive and
untutored African tribe like the Lango and Acholi. [For
we were to see an even more astonishing manifestation of
it among the Acholi a few days later.]

They are instructed apparently by time-expired
members of the police or military forces, who spend their
leisure on their return to their villages in forming a nucleus
of an army out of their fellow-enthusiasts. It would be
interesting to know if this voluntary adoption of European
drill and European music has been noticed amongst any
other uncivilised African people.

We congratulated ourselves once more on having
taken the overland route instead of the river journey by
Butiaba, but felt sorrier than ever that we had no time to
wander farther afield and learn more of these entertaining
folk. Their language was a collection of the most uncouth
and strangely inarticulate sounds, and sometimes was ex-
traordinarily like the chatter that English children may be
heard inventing when pretending to be foreigners.

It was nearly always spoken in a high-pitched and
forcible tone, which, unless one was watching the speakers,
suggested that they were on the verge of coming to
blows. Mwaka spoke the local Ki-Swahili fairly well, as
did Dora at Palango, but it was probably known to but
few or any of their staff, and certainly to none of the
populace.

Mwaka expressed himself as quite willing to accom-
pany us as far as Nimule, though his instructions had
only extended to the Palango district boundary, and
further left us three delightful young sons of his. They,
he said, would "come on" with us — more or less per-
manently, apparently. We wondered whether they meant

234 THROUGH THE HEART OF AFRICA

England, Cairo, or only Gondokoro, but forbore to ask.
One was attired in an abbreviated waistcoat and practi-
cally nothing else. The others were similarly clothed, but
without the waistcoat.

In the evening we heard from Mr. Sullivan at Gulu,
who told us that it was two days to his camp — Mwaka's
runner had taken five hours — and added that it was seven
good days on from Gulu to Nimule ; but as he added
that it was seventy-five miles, we reckoned we could do it
in four, which we did.

The journey to Gulu the next day, which turned out
to be a matter of eighteen miles, we accomplished in five
hours. There was no road, and the track was for the most
part beyond what even we considered possible for cycling,
and we only managed to use our machines for about
five miles, in stretches of half a mile at a time. During
the last of these, one of us collided with a tree with such
force that the regulator of the two-speed gear was driven
some way into his knee, causing a nasty little wound that
became rather troublesome later on.

Mr. Sullivan made us very welcome, gave us lunch,
and then showed us the beginning of the new " boma "
which he was building. It is well situated on a hill com-
manding a fine view of the surrounding country, which,
though timbered farther away, is, in the immediate neigh-
bourhood, bare except for a few borassus palms.

We got off at a quarter to six the next morning after
an early breakfast, and started for Lakor's — 17 miles dis-
tant. Our host had provided us with thirteen carriers, but
they bolted after travelling an hour and a half, as they
considered that was a day's march. Luckily it did not
cause us much inconvenience, as we soon obtained a fresh
gang at a wayside village. We were in the Acholi country
by this time, and noted that they cultivate a good deal of
millet, sorghum, ground nuts, and sim-sim. The country
was fairly open, and fine clear streams replaced the dis-
agreeable swamps that had been a prominent feature of
the Lango country. As no game was visible, our shoot-
ing was confined to an occasional brace of guinea-fowl.

THE LANGO AND ACHOLI COUNTRY 235

generally secured in the evening after a couple of hours'
hard tramping in the grass.

At Lakor's we struck a road of sorts. It was a narrow,
bumpy track, but it was a good deal better than nothing,
and as it was twenty-one miles to Adulla's, where we had
decided to camp, we were glad enough of it. Five miles
after starting we passed a spot known as " Baker's camp,"
being the place which Sir Samuel Baker had made his
temporary residence many years before. It was a good
spot for a rest, among small hills with some fine trees
and a beautiful stream of clear water flowing lazily over
some rocks close by.

We reached Adulla's at a little before midday, but had
to wait another hour and a half for our chairs and food,
while the rest of the loads did not arrive till about four.
There were some lounges in the village of most original
design, constructed of logs laid horizontally on parallel
sloping poles. Four of them were built facing one another
so that the bases formed a small square, in the centre of
which a small fire was kept burning. On them were
sprawling and chatting some young Acholi bloods — even
more tightly laced than their Lango neighbours.

Before arriving at the village we had an opportunity
of watching a party of Acholi hunters at work. Some
days before they had burnt a strip of grass in the
bush, leaving a large unburnt area up wind, and the day
on which we passed they had placed game nets about six
feet in height on light poles, studded with rough pegs, all
along the burnt strip of ground. The grass was then
fired about three-quarters of a mile away, and the hunters
arriving with bows and arrows, waited for any game that
might be driven into the nets by the flames. We arrived
there at the right moment, but unfortunately the drive
was fruitless and no game forthcoming. We saw three
Jackson's hartebeeste a little farther on, the first game —
other than elephant — seen since Kishilisi.

Mwaka reported in the evening that a chief named
Wo, who lived close by, had refused to send us either
food for our men or any extra carriers for the next day.

236 THROUGH THE HEART OF AFRICA

As he declared that he had spoken very nicely to Wo,
and that the latter, having plenty of food and a big popu-
lation, had no excuse for his boorishness, we sent along
for Wo, Wo's food, and some of Wo's people. They all
turned up — at about nine o'clock at night. Wo was most
apologetic. His mistake had been due, he said, to the
fact that we were travelling just outside his own particular
sphere, and he did not think that the message could really
be for him.

The next morning, after walking two miles, we crossed
the Nyame, a fair-sized river which rises near Gulu and
flows into the Nile at Nimule. The day was then en-
livened by the third collapse of the bicycle that had been
patched at Hoima. Its latest manifestation was an obsti-
nate tendency to free-wheel in both directions, which made
progress a trifle spasmodic. This meant walking to Oliya's,
but as it was only fourteen miles, it was not immediately
disastrous, and we arrived at half-past ten.

The camp was one of the most ideal spots we had seen.
A huge tree with dense foliage stood at one end of a
cleanly swept square, enclosed with a fence of old crotons.
Some years before it had been the site of the village. The
new village was a few hundred yards away, and contained
six or seven hundred roofs, of which perhaps two hundred
and fifty were huts, the remainder being grain stores.
Each group of a dozen huts or so was separate, yet the
village is continuous, though small hedges divided off the
groups from one another and there were many open spaces
in between them.

Oliya himself, one of the most important Acholi chiefs,
was absent at Nimule, but we were courteously received
by his younger brother, who appeared shortly after our
arrival bringing a dozen eggs and a bugler. The latter
greeted us with an almost faultlessly blown "general salute."
When visiting the village later we were shown round with
unassuming civility by some headman, who met us at the
entrance of the village, and, immediately appointing him-
self our cicerone, said, " This is the way to the chief's house,
will you please come this way." We followed, taking a

There were some lounges .... ok most original design.

THE LANGO AND ACHOLI COUNTRY 237

photograph here and there, and while doing so a graceful
damsel leading a picanin by the hand emerged from
a hut.

" This is Oliya's daughter," said our guide ; and as the
young lady seemed bashful, he added : " Come and have
your picture taken ; don't be shy."

She braced herself up and, holding her younger sister
by the hand, approached and stood for her portrait.
Her clothing consisted of a necklace of fish bones, two
rows of beads round her waist, and a heavy ornament
consisting of some forty strands of copper-wire round
each ankle.

Our guide then produced the chief's son, whose attire
consisted of a goat-skin and a walking-stick. His portrait
also was added to our collections. We then visited the
dififerent parts of the village, and were shown everything
there was to see, after which our guide escorted us back
to our camp.

Most of the rest of the afternoon was devoted to the
broken-down bicycle. It was taken to pieces three times
in all, being put together again on each occasion in an
atmosphere of equally hopeless despair. How it had run
the four hundred miles since leaving Hoima was a small
mechanical miracle. The cones — wonder of wonders —
were intact, but the split cogwheel-casing had gone on
splitting, and apparently the only reason why it had not
started its impartial free-wheeling a month before was that
the fragments of broken metal had got so generously dis-
tributed in the mechanism that everything was bound to
" engage."

But a redistribution had now taken place and natural
propensities had begun to reassert themselves. The task
of restoring the disintegrated atoms to their original
pattern being dismissed as too sublime, it remained to be
seen whether by any means at our command we could
persuade the " damthing " to resume its functions as a
bicycle for another hundred and thirty miles. After four-
teen different kinds of diagnosis and remedy had suggested
themselves and had in turn been discarded, it seemed

238 THROUGH THE HEART OF AFRICA

possible that a cunningly placed rivet or two might succeed
in temporarily arresting the next stage of decay. But the
drilling of case-hardened steel is a poor amusement, even
in the quiet seclusion of camp life in tropical Africa. First
one drill and then another blunted and broke without making
the slightest impression where it was needed.

When on the point of giving up the attempt in philo-
sophical despair, our prospecting operations suddenly suc-
ceeded ; we thought a soft spot must exist somewhere,
and — we found it ! Feverishly amputating the tails of
three files — the only hard metal we had (and soft was use-
less under the circumstances) — we tapped the improvised
rivets cautiously into their places and got the machine
together again before it could strike out a new line of re-
sistance. " Now," we said, " if it does not miss-fire right
away, it may conceivably hold together till Gondokoro."
It did miss-fire right away, and for a few minutes there
was an eloquent silence. Then : " Let's give it one more
chance. If it fails, into the bush with it and we'll finish
up with one machine as we began." We gave it another
chance, and, for some unaccountable reason, something
gripped and only the right wheels revolved. And to
anticipate and cut the story short, though during the last
two days into Gondokoro it was going just as if both
brakes were on, it actually held together till the end.

It was just before sundown that we had quite the
biggest surprise of our whole journey. We had heard
of Oliya's " army " and band as being superior to those
of any of his neighbours, and, after seeing Mwaka's con-
tingent, we learnt with regret that, with the exception of
a bugler, he had evidently taken all the members of the
force with him to Nimule.

But we were not altogether disappointed : his "cadet
corps " gave us a show beyond our wildest hopes. We
had had our first glimpse of them a few minutes after
arriving in camp, when half a dozen naked infants who
had been standing staring at us, suddenly — on observing
that a camera was being turned on to them — at the word
of command of a youngster an inch taller than the rest,

' VOUNG

achoi.i liloods . . . even moke tuihtly laced than their
Lango neighkours."

THE LANGO AND ACHOLI COUNTRY 239

formed up and proceeded to go through nearly all the
details of squad drill.

But this was merely a preliminary canter. Just be-
fore sundown, when the afternoon's occupation had driven
most other things out of our heads, we were startled by
the strains of martial music coming nearer and nearer from
the direction of the village. Evidently the chief had re-
turned, and we were not after all going to miss our parade.
Our feelings may be imagined when the "army" which
marched two deep on to the camp square turned out to
be not Oliya's picked men-at-arms, but a company of
some forty youngsters, from eight to fourteen years of age,
all but two as naked as on the day they were born, and
commanded by the same picanin that had been drilling
the " squad " at midday. Armed with sticks for rifles,
and headed by a band consisting of two battered old side-
drums, an equally battered old cavalry bugle, and a still
more decayed pair of cymbals, they swaggered along in
perfect time, passed us with an " Eyes left," and came to
a halt a little beyond where we were sitting. After " dress-
ing " his company the captain gave the order " Form
fours," and then proceeded to put them through most of
the company drill. Their movements and their music
were astonishingly correct, and their discipline and serious-
ness as striking as in the adult force that we had seen
a few days before.

The words of command were given with a clear enunci-
ation that could scarcely have been improved upon. Evi-
dently the English language did not present the same
difficulties to those young savages that it does to the
southern Bantu, some of whose happiest efforts are
" Bunner murrer," " Reffut incleon," and " Cutty note,
cutty chain," for " By numbers," " Left incline," and
"Guard turn out, Guard 'tion."

After the performance had reached its zenith in the
" bayonet exercises " the company re-formed two deep
once more and retired whence they came.

With such enthusiasm for military discipline and mili-
tary training shown at all ages from infancy upwards one

240 THROUGH THE HEART OF AFRICA

cannot help feeling that here, at any rate, is exceptional
material for the formation of a valuable native force.

Having some twenty-five miles to do into Nimule we
made an early start, though not so early as we had
intended, as after waking us first at 2.30 the guard, who
had been instructed to rouse the camp at 3.30, left us
severely alone till nearly half-past four. We were off
in less than an hour, walking for the first mile or so
until it was light enough to ride.

The road was a good one up to the last two or three
miles and the trek comparatively uneventful. The Nyame
River was less than knee-deep, and the broken bicycle,
though running stiff, held together for the first twenty-
two miles. Then a miss-fire occurred in the old spot,
followed almost immediately by a bad puncture, and it
had to be wheeled the rest of the way.

At a little before eleven o'clock we reached Nimule
station, and enjoyed a hearty welcome from Mr. B. L.
Baines, the District Commissioner, and Mr. Hart, the
District Superintendent of Police. Our loads were all in
by four.

Nimule is an unlovely spot. It is built on and among
hot, dry, and stony barren ridges and hillocks, from which
can be seen one of the " S "-like curves of the Nile, just
below its junction with the Nyame. Across the river
to the west the eye rests with some relief upon the face
of the escarpment leading up to the plateau of the Lado
province of the Soudan, but to the east is baking and
desolate unloveliness.

The houses are substantially but roughly built of stone,
and rather conspicuously free from the comforts that
might well be added to make life worth living in such
unattractive surroundings.

The staff consists of a District Commissioner, an
Assistant District Commissioner, a District Superintendent
of Police, and a Doctor, besides an Indian telegraphist
and Indian clerks.

The day's trek had aggravated the inflammation of
the knee that had been cut near Gulu, and the after-

Oliya's son, clad in a goat skin and a walking stick."

THE LANGO AND ACHOLI COUNTRY 241

noon was spent in poulticing and resting, and reading ai
belated mail.

Our letters included one from an old friend, Captain"
C. H. Stigand, formerly of the King's African Rifles, now
in charge of the Lado province and stationed at Rejaf^.
expressing a hope that we could visit him at his station.

At tea-time we made the acquaintance of Oliya, the
Acholi chief whose village we had just left, and another and
more important chief of the same tribe named Agwok.

The latter was a most interesting old character. He
stood well over six feet, and was attired in a spotless if not
exactly well-fitting suit of white duck, with yellow boots
and bright plaid socks — one of his many costumes, which^
we were told, comprised several varieties of fancy uniforms
as well as of native finery.

He and his territory, which lay to the east, were as
yet quite unadministered, but he was willing and even
anxious to be included in the Protectorate, and meanwhile,
in the intervals between his own little raiding operations,
nothing pleased him better than to co-operate with the
Government, to which he was a staunch and loyal ally.
He had recently carried out a small punitive expedition
in his sphere, chiefly on his own behalf, and having con-
fiscated some hundreds of cattle from his refractory
subjects, had somewhat embarrassed the Government by
offering it eighty head as its share.

Oliya was more like the true Choli. Scantily, but not
nationally, clad, he looked what he apparently was — a
cheerful, unspoilt, more or less untamed, but intelligent
and well-disposed nigger, with a fine figure and a sprightly
gait. He complained of the lack of fighting in these days,
and looked as if he might thoroughly enjoy any that
might be going.

The natives of the Nimule district were largely
Soudanese, a plucky and a warlike race, who had more
than once routed and scattered the fighting Dervish
" armies " sent against them from the north.

They have not, however, given much of an account of
themselves in their occasional passages with the Govern-

Q

242 THROUGH THE HEART OF AFRICA

ment. In spite of their greatly superior numbers and
the fact that they are fairly well armed with a variety of
comparatively modern weapons imported from Abyssinia,
they are apparently quite unable to withstand the disci-
pline and steady rifle-tire of a few trained men.

It was fortunate that we had obtained carriers at
Palango to take us through to Gondokoro, The District
Commissioner, under the impression that our request
through Mr. Grant at Hoima was holding good, had
obtained what men he could for our last stage, but they
were no longer available. A first supply he had been
unable to persuade to wait more than two days for us,
and a second he had been obliged to commandeer for
urgent Government business. Temporary substitutes for
about a dozen weak members of our gang could be pro-
vided without much difficulty.

Once more we could not suppress a smile at the
common estimate of a day's journey in Uganda. Our
journey from Palango — i6i miles in ten days — was voted
extraordinary. It was a little over icq miles from Nimule
to Gondokoro, and astonishment was again expressed at
our intention to get there in six days. The orthodox allow-
ance was ten ; and we had a short time before met a man
who, in perfect health, had travelled 74J miles in ten days !
And it was the custom, we learnt, to start on these journeys
at the strenuous hour of three or four in the morning.

With the majority of office work performed by Indian
clerks, the tax collection in parts where taxes are en-
forced and minor administrative duties by the native
chiefs, it must, one would suppose, be something of a
problem how to spend the rest of one's day, if one starts
on a seven to ten mile march at 3 a.m.

After the disposal of our third pair of tusks to the
local branch of Alidina Visram at the reduced price of
Rs.5.25 per lb. — the manager declaring that the price of
ivory had gone down during the last month — and the
purchase of one or two necessities such as flour and
sugar, we left Nimule on the 21st of December for the
last section of the journey to Gondokoro.

A HEADMAN OF THE LaNGO ChIEF AND ONE OF MwaKA's SONS WHO
CAME THROUGH TO GONDOKORO WITH US.

XVI

NIMULE TO GONDOKORO

Uninviting country — The Assua River — Arrangements for food supply
and extra carriers— Christmas Day — Ledju, the rain-maker — Rejaf —
Arrival at Gondokoro — Sale of our camp kit — Arrival of the Cordon
Pasha — -Notes on Uganda and its administration.

We left Nimule on the 21st of December. Messrs. Baines
and Hart, who were going out on duty, and whose route
was the same as our own for the first day, left early, but
we, detained by sundry small matters, did not get off till
nearly ten.

For the first two or three miles the road wound in and
out amongst the stony hills at the back of the station and
led through the barest, thirstiest, most scorched and re-
pulsive bit of country we had seen. After a while the
Congo hills showed up again to our left, but to the right
the landscape melted away through a smoky haze to bare,
hot, and vacant desolation. The scanty patches of vege-
tation had mostly been burnt by a bush fire, which was
still blazing at both sides of our path.

Later the road became quite good for bicycling, but
the natives who were carrying the machines had lagged
so far behind that we decided to walk the rest of the
eleven miles to camp. Fortunately there was a steady
breeze which made the heat just bearable.

At one o'clock we reached the Assua, a broad and pic-
turesque tributary of the Nile which rises near the borders
of the Rudolph province, and refreshed ourselves by
wading across, though we should have been pleased had
it been waist instead of but knee deep. Baines and Hart
were camped a few hundred yards down stream, and we
established ourselves at a rather decayed camp on the
road near the ford. The posts of the banda bore a notice

243

244 THROUGH THE HEART OF AFRICA

to the effect that this and the remaining camps on the
road were free from the spirillum tick, which struck us
as being a trifle sanguine, though as a matter of fact we
found no traces of it.

The following morning we rose at 4.30, just in time
to see the tail-end of the Nimule caravan disappearing into
the shadows ; Agwok and Mwaka, who brought up the
rear, saluted cheerfully as they passed. We had bidden
farewell to the latter the day before, with thanks for his
assistance, under the impression that he was going back
home, but apparently he intended to see a little more life
first.

We left at six and reached the Vuni stream, where we
camped, at ten. It was a rough, stony trek of sixteen
miles. The river bed was dry where the road crossed it,
but there was water — of a kind — quite close. Some
neighbouring headmen were found and persuaded with-
out any difficulty to produce food for our carriers and
extra men for some of our loads for the next stage, the
Nimule contingent having returned home. The feeding
and transport system had changed. The natives along
the route were supposed to bring what food might be
required by travellers, but it was paid for at a fixed rate.
Carriers were similarly paid (at twelve cents a day), but
would not travel more than a single stage at a time. In
fact it was quite an unusual thing on the Nimule-
Gondokoro road for a single gang to be going right
through.

The next day's journey of fifteen miles was equally
uninteresting. We crossed three or four watercourses,
only two of which boasted a little water in pools, the
others being dry sandy beds.

A small herd of elephant had crossed the road earlier
in the day, but there was apparently nothing big in it, and
we had no time to waste in investigation. We reached
camp at Gombiri's at half-past ten. Some of the carriers
took eight hours to get in. Food and spare carriers were
again obtained without much difficulty, though the first
supply of the former was a little modest and had to be

N I MULE TO GONDOKORO

245

repeated by request. For our wants we could get nothing
beyond half a dozen bad eggs.

The natives along our route were Bari. They were
mostly tall, shifty-eyed, unprepossessing and unattractive
folk, singularly unlike the Lango we loved.

The penalties of wading in the Assua had begun to
make themselves felt by one of us the previous evening,
and during the day acute rheumatic pains, somewhat
complicating the problem of equilibrium on a bicycle,
threatened a possibly serious delay. Fortunately they
wore off after three days, and the victim, but for the
memories of intermittent torture, was none the worse.

From Gombiri's we went to Tombe Musa, fourteen
miles. The road was quite suitable for bicycling most of
the way, and watered with three fairly good streams, but it
was an unattractive country, and peopled by unattractive
folk. Our twelve local natives from Gombiri's were some
of the lowest types we had ever seen.

Five minutes' delay occurred on the way to attend to
a carrier who was rolling on the ground, doubled up in
agony and complaining that he was dying of a snake. It
was not, as we at first believed, a snake bite that was
afflicting him, but merely his descriptive manner of
alluding to a pain in his inside. We had hardly grasped
the delicate distinction when Musa arrived on the scene,
and, unrolling the victim on to his back, proceeded to
administer the most drastic abdominal massage. It seemed
to make him no worse, and he turned up smiling later at
camp. A carrier who the day before had been suddenly
and unaccountably attacked by almost total though pain-
less paralysis of a leg also had — quite as unaccountably —
almost recovered.

The food supply was nearly as readily obtained as
before, though as it did not arrive till night we were afraid
at one time that we should have to go and fetch it. It
had been promised by a representative of the Mwanti who
had brought us a supply of highly flavoured milk shortly
after our arrival, but at seven o'clock there were no signs
of it, though the village was only a couple of miles away.

246 THROUGH THE HEART OF AFRICA

Half-past eight and there were still no signs, so the
corporal was instructed to take half our escort and make
polite inquiries. As they were starting they asked if they
were to be allowed to fire if they were attacked by the
population or had spears thrown at them from the high
grass. The population, they declared, was not at all a
pleasant-spoken crowd, and they were quite sure that there
would be violence. We were quite sure that there would
not, but as they were in that frame of mind it was
obviously risky letting them go alone. With difficulty
persuading Musa that something less than our combined
battery was indispensable, one of us was starting off when,
rather to our disappointment, torches appeared in the
distance, an obliging and apologetic Mwami appeared with
a couple of sheep for us and meal for the carriers, and the
" expedition " was " off."

The following was Christmas Day : we had detected
it the previous evening, but rediscovered it at daybreak
with some surprise. Our first three days' journey had
necessarily been at rather a low average owing to the
disposition of camps, on which, in our ignorance of the
route, we had to depend for water and supplies. We had
now to begin making up for it, and for a start made
twenty-two miles to Ledju's, passing another camp at
Lokko-Legga's at eight and three-quarters.

We passed a quantity of elephant spoor on the way —
some of the previous day, some of the same morning.
Any elephants that live in those parts must be hopelessly
enamoured of the simple life. Nothing in the way of
sustenance but the scantiest and most ragged of thorn
trees, and not very many of them — though they had been
making the best of them. The carriers astonished us.
Our lunch was in before noon, and the whole safari by
2.25.

Another alarm with regard to the food supply turned
out to be quite a false one. A messenger to the village,
which was close to our camp, reported that not only were
the chief and all his representatives away, but that the
people found at home sullenly refused to give any intima-

NIMULE TO GONDOKORO 247

tion of their whereabouts. The appearance of Ledju in
person less than half-an-hour later, coupled with the ex-
ceptional courtesy of his greeting, was a pleasant surprise,
and dispelled all our fear. His method of salutation was
as charming as it was rare. He was a thin, spare man of
medium height, with an unusually thick shock of hair
standing out like a mop, a large, mobile, but not very
thick-lipped mouth, and quiet, benevolent expression.
Doffing his fez cap, he first halted and saluted at some
twenty paces and again at ten feet, then advancing to
where we sat he saluted us one after the other, grasping
the right hand in both his own, bowing over it till he
touched it, first with his lips, and then with his forehead,
and then again with his lips. He was quite a graceful
old gentleman and eager to do our bidding. He told us
that he and his tribe were " Barrrri," with an imperceptible
final vowel and a rolled " r " that would have done credit
to a Scottish comedian.

In the evening we visited his village. The male in-
habitants were mostly strolling and squatting about in
a state of absolute nudity that scorned even the simplest
ornament. The women generally affected the aprons
back and front that we had seen among the Lango
and Acholi, though some wore ephemeral confections
of fresh grass. Among the women's ornaments we
first noticed the necklaces and waist-belts composed
of tiny and slightly concave shells fitting closely into
one another and strung upon a cord, giving the impression
of spangles.

Ledju himself is a rather famous "rain-maker." It
would appear to be comparatively simple to acquire and
retain a reputation as a rain-maker. Not only may the
magician refuse his services — and frequently does so if rain
is not imminent — but when he consents to act, he does not
bind himself to the observance of any time limit, simply
contenting himself with claiming the next shower that
falls as due to his powers.

In former times it is possible that the position was
somewhat less of a sinecure, as we are told that in the

248 THROUGH THE HEART OF AFRICA

case of a persistent drought it was not exceptional for the
people to assemble and kill the rain-maker.

Seventeen miles more brought us to Kiriba — our last
camp before reaching Gondokoro. We were not altogether
sorry to be reaching the end of the trekking part of our
journey. A hundred and sixty-one days passed largely
in camp life had not, per se, been anything of a surfeit,
but the last few days had been rather trying and quite
the least pleasant part of the trip. The country was dull,
thirsty, and uninteresting, the natives apathetic, sullen, and
unattractive, and the heat, even in the first three hours of
daylight, bordered on the oppressive.

Our camp was a mile or two from the Nile and nearly
opposite Rejaf, Captain Stigand's headquarters. Hoping
to find him in residence we made our way to the river
bank and inquired of the natives what they knew of his
whereabouts. Absolutely nothing, they declared. He
might be there or he might not, but they had no deal-
ings of any kind with the natives on the other side.

It was not intentional discouragement, for a couple
of them were quite ready to paddle across with a note,
after a few gunshots had failed to elicit a sign of any
particular activity from the settlement.

Our efforts were however merely rewarded by a reply
to the effect that the Governor was away on tour. So
we returned to camp — not in a very merry frame of mind,
for it was past one o'clock. We had breakfast at half-past
four, and for the last two hours, especially while waiting
in a little village on the bank, the heat had been infernal.
A fairly strong and constant breeze took the edge off it,
but the breeze itself was so hot that it was only from the
evaporation of one's own perspiration that one could gain
any relief.

The village headman, an attenuated man with an
attenuated voice, had saved our lives, we felt, by the gift
of a bowl of milk — which was actually fresh and un-
tainted. The latter was not a common luxury. Kiriba
brought us about half a gallon of milk the same day, once
in the afternoon and again in the evening ; the latter was

Tine D.C."s House at Gondokoro.

NIMULE TO GONDOKORO

249

at least twenty-four hours younger than the first, but it
was, as usual, strongly flavoured with the cow urine in
which the local natives wash their vessels.

Seven of our carriers from Ledju's we found had
gone back without waiting for pay. We photographed
the remainder as comprising some of the ugliest faces we
had seen during the whole trip.

The heat right up to eight o'clock at night was aston-
ishing. There was still quite a stiff breeze blowing, yet
it seemed every bit as hot as it had been in the middle
of the day. It was difficult to say whether the breeze
now made it cooler or hotter than it would have been
without it, but it felt like the breath of a furnace.

Making an early start next morning we put behind us
the sixteen miles into Gondokoro by half-past nine, mend-
ing a final puncture on the way.

After learning at the Post Office, where we rescued
some mails, that the " post boat" due on the 28th would
be perhaps a week late, and that one of the Soudan De-
velopment and Exploration Company's vessels would be
in on or about the ist of January, we wended our way to
the office and made ourselves known to Captain Henry, the
Assistant District Commissioner in charge.

Gondokoro is but a little less desirable resort than
Nimule. The heat is excessive, the soil dusty and poor,
and the vegetation consists mainly of a few scorched and
distorted palms.

The principal buildings, the office and the resident
official's house, which are of very inferior brick, and
falling to pieces, do not contribute much to the allevia-
tion of their unattractive surroundings.

The station has perhaps little in its favour besides its
position on the high banks overlooking the Nile, but it
has much greater possibilities than Nimule, and a good
deal might be done to make it a more desirable place to
live in.

We were lodged in a roomy brick tenement that had
once been the official's house, the other half of which
was occupied by Captain Hutchinson, Superintendent

250 THROUGH THE HEART OF AFRICA

of Uganda Marine, who was proceeding on leave and
awaiting the "post boat," and our four days' stay was
made exceedingly pleasant by Captain and Mrs. Henry's
hospitality.

We were almost tempted by the proximity of the
Gondokoro herd of elephant to try and make up our full
number, but eventually, though they were so close that
Captain Henry had heard them three days in succession
when taking an ante-breakfast stroll, decided that they
were not worth the trouble. They had been constantly
seen, were fairly well known to comprise no big bulls, and
to be nasty tempered ; while their habitat was a particularly
treeless bit of flat country with long grass and a few but
small thorns. So we contented ourselves with the refund,
on one of our licences, of the ^20 that may be claimed
in the case of a second elephant not having been killed.

The second day after our arrival, with the assistance of
the District Commissioner's Indian clerk (who, incidentally,
was the only one of his kind whom we had encountered
in the Protectorate whose name was not Sousa) we held
a rather successful sale of our superfluous kit. The
buyers were the two or three local traders, Greek and
Indian, and the Indian telegraphist.

Our bicycles were bought at each, in spite of the
persistent honesty with which we pointed out that one of
them, as a bicycle, was practically useless without a new
back wheel. For though it had actually got there, it was
obvious, from the terrific labour that was required to
propel it the last few miles into Gondokoro, as well as the
fantastic oscillations of the wheel upon its hub, that final
disintegration was painfully imminent. Our tents fetched
about the same price, and the rest of our camp gear went
at varying sums. Uganda coinage was changed without
difficulty into English sovereigns and Egyptian silver.

The Soudan Development and Exploration Company
stern - wheeler Gordon Pasha arrived from the north
on the 30th of December and proceeded the following
day to Rejaf, after having landed Mr. Shaw, of the Church
Missionary Society station at Malek, and a Mr. Blain, who

NIMULE TO GONDOKORO 251

was visiting Uganda for a shooting trip. The boat's return
was delayed by the various sandbanks that impede the
river above Gondokoro, and she did not make her reap-
pearance till four o'clock on Saturday afternoon. To our
surprise and delight, Captain Stigand was on board and
intending to accompany us as far as Lado.

We embarked at once, and at a little past five on the
last day of the year we had said good-bye to our host
and hostess and, turning our backs on Uganda, were
steaming down the Nile. Since leaving our stations in
Rhodesia we had covered altogether 3020 miles, of
which 1720 had been walking and cycling, 607 by lake
steamers, 520 on the Uganda railway, and the balance by
motor vans in the East Africa and Uganda Protectorate.

During our seventy days' visit in the Uganda Pro-
tectorate we had been unable to visit the Toro, Ankole,
Elgon, Busoga, and Rudolph districts, but we had seen
and learnt something of the Buganda province and a good
deal of the Bunyoro, Lango, and Nile districts.

Of these sections the Rudolph district is as yet quite
unadministered, the Nile province (Lango, Choli, and
Bari) only partially controlled, and till 1910 was unad-
ministered except for a narrow strip along the river.
Buganda, Bunyoro, Toro, and Ankole are not only
thoroughly administered, but show in some respects a
higher state of advancement than any other part of
tropical Africa known to us.

While tempering our admiration for this by the reflec-
tion that there was already existing among the native
population an exceptionally high social and political
organisation on which the present enlightened and more
civilised system has been grafted, it is only fair that adverse
criticism should allow that the very existence of this
organisation may have involved certain difficulties of
adaptation which are, in a measure at any rate, responsible
for present defects.

It may be, in short, that the system's defects are those
of its qualities.

The administrative system of the Uganda Protectorate

252 THROUGH THE HEART OF AFRICA

is largely one of decentralisation. Immediately after the
Governor come the Provincial Commissioners, of whom
there are two, though there is provision for four ; under
the Provincial Commissioners are the District Com-
missioners and Assistant District Commissioners. All
communications between headquarters and district
officials have to pass through the Provincial Commissioner
(or Senior District Commissioner acting as Provincial
Commissioner), and, if from an Assistant District Com-
missioner, through the District Commissioner first.

There are, of course, excellent reasons for the adop-
tion of a general policy of decentralisation, and we have
an especially interesting manifestation of it in Uganda, as
here, where their intelligence and organisation admits of
it, it is carried right down into the administration of the
natives. Now the dangers of this are potential rather
than inherent, but certain of the conditions under which
it is worked (though at the same time it is just the
existence and operation of it that make those conditions
possible) seem bound to bring out its worst faults. We
refer to the practice, apparently general and deliberate, of
constantly moving the district officials at short intervals
from post to post.

With the exception of thetwo Provincial Commissioners
every member of the district staff is liable to be moved
from one corner of the Protectorate to the other, and is
rarely, if ever, more than two years — frequently not more
than a few months — in charge of the same station.

So far as the junior members are concerned, the
practice has much to recommend it, but when it is carried
up to the higher grades its disadvantages begin to be
apparent, and the frequency with which even a Senior
District Commissioner may be moved from, say, the
Northern Province to Elgon, and then after a short
interval to Ankole, and again to some post in Buganda,
is a feature that has already lent itself to a good deal of
criticism.^ Let us briefly examine the system of native

^ Even in cases of junior officials it can be carried too far. One Assistant
District Commissioner, in charge of a district, had been at nine different stations
in the space of two years.

NIMULE TO GONDOKORO 253

administration and the effect on it of this practice of con-
stantly changing the district officials.

The official administers his district and derives his
information mainly through the chiefs, by means of a
system of regular and complete reports. It is through
them largely that he knows his people, and there is conse-
quently a risk that he derives relatively little information
from any other source and that he contents himself with
seeing everything through their eyes.

The powers in the hands of the chiefs are judicial as
well as administrative and'exceptionally wide. They have
their own civil and criminal courts, their own gaols, the
right to imprison therein, and within limitations the
power of life and death. ^

As to the manner in which these powers are exercised
for the management of their internal affairs we had no
means of learning. But the extent to which, apart from
the administration of purely internal affairs, the chiefs are
depended upon as the medium through which the District
Commissioner rules is sufficiently obvious.

To rule through the chiefs should be the aim and
object of all native administrations, and it would be folly
not to maintain as far as possible the efficient machinery
that already exists in Uganda for this method of govern-
ment. The system is an ideal one, but without relentless
supervision and checking it is inevitable that it must result
in corruption and abuse.

The District Commissioner need not take the work
out of the hands of the chiefs, but he and his assistants
might yet take an active and independent part in the
administration and see things for themselves as well as
through the eyes of the " Kabaka " and " Sasa " chiefs.
Nor is there any doubt that they would do so, and effi-
ciently, were they left long enough in one district to
master more than the mere details of routine. As it is, a
District Commissioner, on taking charge of a new district,

^ The "Kabaka" can condemn and sentence to death, though the sentence
has to be confirmed by the High Court. The " Sasa " or " county " chiefs as well
as the Kabaka have their courts and gaols. The former is a considerably greater
power than those exercised by the District Commissioner.

254 THROUGH THE HEART OF AFRICA

finds the old machinery running smoothly, the chiefs
apparently doing their work efficiently and reporting
regularly, and knowing that he is unlikely to remain long
enough to acquire a thorough insight into things, naturally
accepts them as they are.

The system in force demands an impossibly high
standard of integrity as well as mere intelligence from the
native. That abuses are not more frequent or more
flagrant is due no doubt to a standard that is exceptional,
but even the enlightened Muganda is but an African
native, and cannot be regarded as free from the weak-
nesses, common to all inferior races from the Bushman
to the Egyptian and the Hindu, that prove him to be as
yet unfit for self-government.

The irregularities connived at, or perhaps even en-
couraged by the chiefs of which the District Commissioner
knows nothing ^ may at present be trifling, but given an
ambitious, unscrupulous chief capable of taking advantage
of the existing conditions, considerable harm might be
done before the official became aware of it. The possible
irregularities, after all, are not everything. There is the
eflfect upon the officials themselves. It amounts practi-
cally to this, that there is a risk of excellent material
running to waste. Native administration is robbed of
half its pleasure when it is carried on by an indirect system
of deputies. It becomes narrow and uninteresting, and it

* Only the more important chiefs are allowed to hunt elephants (two each
year) and the ordinary native is forbidden to kill any of the animals even when
damage feasant, but in reality a good deal of elephant hunting is surreptitiously
indulged in by the population. A native frankly told us that he and his friends
had wounded six within two months. One had already died, and some of the
others were sick and he wanted us to go and finish them off for him.

These elephants eventually die and are then reported as found dead, and the
"finder"' receives a percentage of the value of the ivory. The average chief —
even if he does not get a share of the spoils — can hardly be expected to court
unpopularity by reporting the delinquents. The above case occurred within
forty miles of an important station. It is a minor case, but it shows that if the
Government is to know what is going on there must be other sources of informa-
tion than the chiefs alone. If breaches of the game regulations can be concealed,
other irregularities may also be committed without detection. That the sup-
pression is wilful may be deduced from the fact that the District Commissioners
Ijoast, and not without reason, that few, if any, breaches of the game regulations
by Europeans go unreported — simply because it is not to the interest of the
natives to conceal them.

NIMULE TO GONDOKORO

255

is ipso facto unlikely, if not impossible, that the official will
put his best into his work.

Relying as he does upon his chiefs' reports, it is natural
that the District Commissioner's personal visits to his people
are restricted and perfunctory. They tend, in short, to be
but formal tours of inspection. He does not, in the
ordinary course of things, leave the beaten tracks to visit
outlying villages or grovips, but passes from centre to
centre, and from one big chief's to another's, keeping to
the principal roads and generally without varying his route.
Should the natives of any other villages besides those of
the important chiefs have any case or complaint to bring
before him they must go to his camping-places, and, as a
rule, be introduced by the local chief.

It is obvious that if the District Commissioner were
able to make a point of travelling about amongst the
people and o£f the beaten tracks, he would rapidly become
au fait with many things of which at present he is bound
to remain in ignorance, and be able to keep in closer touch
with his subjects. Considering the fact that the staff at
the central stations consists of a District Commissioner, an
Assistant District Commissioner, a Medical Officer, a Police
Officer, and a Public Works Engineer, besides Indian or
Goanese for clerical and postal work, it is clearly not over-
work that prevents a more thorough system of district
travelling. It is the fault of the machinery ; and yet not
of the machinery alone, but of the extent to which, owing
to his constant transfer, the official is unable to do more
than make use of the machinery as it exists, or to test by
personal knowledge the efficiency of its working.

He is unable to master the local language and is forced
to rely entirely on the official Ki-Swahili, which is only
understood by the chiefs and more advanced natives and
not by the rank and file of the population. Hence in the
hearing and settlement of native cases and complaints, either
at his station or on tour, he is largely at the mercy of an
interpreter, while in the latter case probably only those
plaintiffs whose application is approved by the chief succeed
in gaining a hearing.

256 THROUGH THE HEART OF AFRICA

Even where the official has been keen enough and has
had time to acquire a working knowledge of the language
in one district, his removal elsewhere would, in nine cases
out of ten, result in him being too disheartened to begin
upon another.^

One of the most important factors in the satisfactory
and successful administration of natives is thus eliminated,
viz. the ruler's knowledge of and sympathy with the ruled.
No matter how keen or efficient a man may be he will not
be able, in such spasmodic intervals, to acquire more than
a superficial and second-hand knowledge of the people in
his charge, or of the inside working of his district.

Further, there can be little doubt that the personaHty of
the official is of considerable value in the management of
native races. It need not necessarily be a very strong one,
but the actual acquaintance with and influence of their
white ruler's personality is of real importance to the natives.
They take an interest in him, want to know him, and, making
tremendous allowance for his faults, even if they notice
them, are far more amenable when they do know him.

The official who is constantly moved from post to post
has no chance of becoming a living personality to the
greater number of his people. He cannot become a friend,
counsellor, and trusted head-chief as he should be. ^ He is
little more than a figurehead, the representative for the
time being of the abstract Government. Their chiefs the
natives know, but the District Commissioner — who is he ?
Here to-day and gone to-morrow, seldom penetrating into
the corners of their country, he is and must be, under this
system, more or less of a stranger. Consequently the
position of the chief becomes stereotyped as that of the
" middleman " ; there is little or no direct intercourse
between the official and the people, and no encouragement
or opportunity for them to talk to him of things that do
not meet the eye.

* t.g. We only met one district official who could converse with the Baganda
in their own language, and he was in a district where a knowledge of Luganda
was absolutely useless to him except for conversing with his personal servants.

- " Native administration should be more paternal than official : the seat and
centre of authority should be visible, permanent, and accessible " (Report of Natal
Native Affaits Commission).

NIMULE TO GONDOKORO 257

A not uncommon source of information is provided by
the missions. The teachers and catechists, who are working
in or constantly visiting all parts of the country, naturally
hear much of what is going on, and retail some of it to the
missionaries, who, if their communications be of sufficient
importance, pass them on to the official. But though
perhaps occasionally of value, such information must be
often discounted by the same considerations as those that
apply to the revelations of the interested chief, and at the
best, information from such a source is slipshod, irregular,
and unsystematic.

Where independent information is obtained the ten-
dency seems rather to keep it in reserve for use should it
bear upon other matters, than to act upon it for the cor-
rection of existing irregularities. This, of course, is no sort
of policy, and none know it better than those who adopt it.
" But what is the use of worrying ? " they ask. " We may be
here a year, we may be here less ; is it worth while upsetting
a system that we may not have time really to readjust ? "

The surprising thing is that under the circumstances
the results are not more pernicious than they are. But
the fact that they are not does not seem a sound enough
argument for continuance of the system. Presumably the
attitude is : " Things work pretty well really, we know
of no serious irregularities, we can afford to overlook a
few trifles." Very well ; but what, after all, is the object of
this game of "general post" among the district officials?
What is the vast consideration for which administrative
anomalies are to be tolerated and the apathy of the best
officials reckoned of no account ?

The only reason we heard put forward was that there
were some stations in the Uganda Protectorate at which
no official could be expected to remain a long period, e.g.
that it was not fair to keep men in unhealthy districts like
X. or at hot stations like Y. for more than a short spell or
to send them back there on their return from leave. We
happened to mention this to the official at Y. and he replied
that he would rather remain at Y. all his life than be moved
again and again — most of all moved to such stations as

R

258 THROUGH THE HEART OF AFRICA

A., B., or C, which were considered at headquarters to be
the most desirable stations in the country.

In other words, if, as we were given to understand,
consideration for the officials is the sole reason for the
policy of moving them so often from place to place, it is
based on misapprehension of their wishes. They would
far rather have an opportunity of learning one district
well, and administering it efficiently.

Granted that there are stations like X. and Y. at which
the conditions are such as to preclude a protracted resi-
dence, they are probably not the majority. Why, then,
should the whole service be affected by the desire to give
the official at an unhealthy station a change ? Why, too,
should there be a desire to make this change so complete
that in many cases when an official has spent one term at
one of these stations and, incidentally, has begun to get a
grip of local affairs and an interest in his work, he is never
sent there again ?

It would not seem to be a matter of much difficulty to
devise a system by which the official at an unhealthy
station is given his change, and at the same time that
station be generally, if not always, in the charge of one who
has already acquired some knowledge of its w-orking.

(In "unhealthy stations" we purposely do not include
those which from their mere remoteness are frequently but
erroneously considered undesirable.)

At the most it would require the addition of one or two
more officials to the staff of the district in question so that
there might always be one of previous local experience to
take the place of the official to be relieved. The extra
expense would be probably more than balanced by the
advantages both to the administration and to the officials
themselves.

It is a little surprising that in a highly organised native
administration such as that of Uganda there should be no
attempt at the compilation of a native census. With the
existing machinery it would be a matter of little or no
difficulty, and would prove of immense utility in every
branch of the administration, as has been aptly demon-

NIMULE TO GONDOKORO

strated in those parts of Africa where a complete census
has been made and kept up to date. In Uganda, with the
present migratory system for officials, it would probably be
of even more use than elsewhere. For a good census soon
includes much more information than lists of names, and
its perusal would give the strange District Commissioner
some idea of the individuality of his subjects.

The " agent " system of the Eastern Province has
already been commented upon. For the rest all seems
admirable. The general administration ; the orderly be-
haviour of the population in the administered parts, and
the courtesy of the chiefs and people ; the network of
excellent roads which are justly famous through half
Africa ; the encouragement given to agriculture and the
development of the country's natural resources — these
leave a deep and lasting impression. The natives are
industrious and steady workers, and earn a regular income
from the cultivation of cotton, coffee, and sim-sim, and
thus have ample opportunities of earning the money re-
quired for the payment of the poll-tax (Rs.3) and the
rent (Rs.2) which they have to pay to their chiefs.

The fact that in the previous year the actual revenue
was ^40,000 more than had been estimated is a suffi-
ciently convincing proof of the prosperity of the Protec-
torate. Half of the surplus so earned goes automatically
towards the reduction of the grant-in-aid, and the other
half is devoted to the development of the country by im-
proving the communications, and so on. The total revenue
for the last year for which figures are available (191 o, 11)
was ^191,000, the expenditure 5 2,000, and the grant-
in-aid ^96,000, compared with five years ago when the
figures were (for 1905, 6): revenue £77,000, expenditure
;^i73,ooo, and the grant-in-aid ^103,000. To a planter
with a capital of about ^2000 it holds out excellent pros-
pects. After three years he should be getting good returns :
first from coffee, later from cocoa, and finally from rubber.
And those responsible for the Government seem as intent
on making the best of the unrivalled material in the native
population as on developing to their utmost the agricultural
resources of the country.

XVII

THE SOUDAN

The Gordon Pasha — New Year's Eve at Lado — Mongalla — The
Dinka tribe — An old friend — The sudd — Bahr-el-Ghazal and Sobat
— Kodok — The White Nile railway bridge — Khartoum — Omdur-
man — Khalifa's palace, Mahdi's tomb, and market-place — School
and hospital — The Gordon College — The Nubian Desert — Wady
Haifa.

The Gordon Pasha is an example of the best type of
stern-wheeler and one of the newest and finest boats on
the Upper Nile. The main deck contains a roomy saloon,
cabins and accommodation for eight passengers, including
a cabin-de-luxe at the stern. The latter we were fortunate
in finding available for our use. It measured fourteen
by sixteen feet, was furnished with comfortable bunks, four
windows and two doors, one of the latter leading into
the bathroom. The windows and main door were, as
throughout the boat, fitted with mosquito screens. After
the limited conveniences of camp life this was the height
of luxury.

The second and third class accommodation was
provided by a two-storied lighter, or barge, lashed to
the port side. On this was also piled the stock of fuel,
replenished from time to time from wooding stations en
route, while sundry cargo was stowed in the shallow hold.

The upper deck was devoted to the second class
(Greek and Egyptian traders and such), the lower to
negroes. Their cooking was done in a bucket in the
bows, in which a fire was constantly kept burning.

Occasionally these Nile steamers carry two or more
barges — sometimes two lashed together and pushed in
front of their bows.

The cool breeze on the river, heightened by the motion

THE SOUDAN

261

of the steamer, was delightfully refreshing after the stifling
heat on land, and the next hour to Lado, spent mainly in
talking over old times with Captain Stigand, whom we
had not seen for some years, had gone by almost before
we realised that we had started.

Lado is a desolate encampment on the left bank of
the Nile, which, we were not surprised to learn, is shortly
to be abandoned in favour of some more salubrious spot.
Messrs. Done and Bruce, whom we found in charge, wel-
comed Bimbashi Stigand and ourselves and invited us to
see the New Year in at their mess. We had previously
been sceptical about the necessity of dining under a
mosquito-net even on the Nile, but our evening at Lado
succeeded in completely converting us. In spite of its
protection and the added precaution of wrapping a coat
and a bath-towel round our legs and covering the per-
forated chairs with copies of the Field, we were in
considerable misery the whole evening. There were
swarms of them, and they bit through shirt, trousers, socks
and everything. We were assured that we were really
fortunate — that it was nothing to Lado at its worst, but
even as we saw it we have no compunction in assigning
it one of the places of honour among the pest-ridden spots
of the earth. The conversation during and after dinner
mostly turned upon the affairs of this, the most recent
addition ^ to the provinces of the Empire, and it was good
news to hear that in spite of the depredations of hunters
during the interregnum preceding its absorption in the
Soudan there are still large numbers of elephant, white
rhino, and other game. Indeed, while we sat under that
mosquito-net a herd of elephants could be heard trumpet-
ing in a khor quite close.

Shortly before midnight, after exchanging wishes for
a happy New Year, we took our leave and returned to the
steamer, where we were relieved to find our cabin com-
paratively free from mosquitoes.

Weighing anchor at dawn we reached Mongalla, the

^ It had been leased to the King of the Belgians during his lifetime, though
actually belonging to Great Britain,

262 THROUGH THE HEART OF AFRICA

headquarters of the province of the same name, at eight
o'clock. Owen Bey, the Governor of the province, came
down to greet us, and we regretted that having already
been longer than we had intended over the first part of
our journey, we were unable to spend some time in his
district, for we learnt from him, as we had already done
from Bimbashi Stigand, that His Excellency the Sirdar,
who had been advised of our coming, had kindly issued
instructions that every facility be given us by his officers
with whom we might come into contact during our visit
to the Soudan. We would gladly have availed ourselves of
this opportunity to study the conditions prevailing in the
country, and would especially have enjoyed an excursion
into the Mongalla province and a tour in Kordofan, The
riverain population forms but a small proportion of the
whole, and a real insight into the country cannot be gained
without penetrating into the interior, of which we heard
(especially from a fellow-passenger, Mr. Brownsworth of
the Kordofan Trading Company) a rather tempting
description.

After anchoring at a wooding station principally
notable for its mosquitoes, we started at half-past five and
at nine o'clock reached Malek, where we dropped Mr.
Shaw, after going ashore with him and visiting his station
and the Dinka villages close by.

With the exception of a few of the inland cattle-rearing
members of the tribe, who were sharing huge beehive
huts with the herds in their charge, the whole population
consisted of the riverain Dinka, who are chiefly fishermen.
Like the Bari farther south they live in a state of complete
nudity, only smearing their bodies with cow-dung ash as
a preventive of mosquito bites. They complete their
toilet by dyeing their hair with cow-urine to a reddish-
yellow.

We learnt some strange and interesting facts about
these people. One of their prophets, Mr. Shaw told us,
had not only foretold the coming of Halley's Comet seven
months before its appearance (which, after all, he might
have learnt from some ordinary source), but had impressed

THE SOUDAN

263

upon his people that its appearance, so far from being a
signal for war or strife, must be marked by universal
abstention from any kind of violence. The population
of a whole village had subsequently been thrown into a
state of terrible anxiety because, during this millennium,
one of their number had so far disregarded the prophet's
warning as to clout his wife over the head and cut it open.
A still more striking circumstance was that the said prophet
had identified his own general precepts and teaching with
those of the Christian religion as propounded by Mr.
Shaw. The latter had been more than surprised when
an audience of his remarked at the end of a discourse
that they had been taught just that kind of thing by their
own fellow-countryman. Mr. Shaw put it to the test by
visiting the man, and found him astonishingly in accord
with his own teaching.

An agreeable surprise awaited us at Bor, which we
reached at noon the same day. The Bimbashi in charge
proved to be an old friend, in the person of Captain C. V.
Fox of the Scots Guards. Fourteen years had elapsed since
our last meeting, but the twenty minutes' halt was made
the best of for a stimulating discussion of old times.

Nine hours after leaving Bor — a dull spot populated
with the lowest type of Dinka — we arrived at Kerissa, and
after spending nearly another two hours taking in fuel,
continued our journey through the night — the previous
wooding station having been the last place at which we
had to tie up when darkness fell.

In the morning we found we had entered that waste
of wastes — the sudd — through which we were to steam
for two days and another night.

The sudd is a thing one must see to realise. Once
the last tree of the upper reaches is left behind, it becomes
an endless sea of green monotony, reaching apparently to
the ends of the earth, and unbroken by even a leaf or a
twig one inch above the level of the feathery papyrus
tops. Seen from the deck of a comfortable Nile steamer,
with a cool breeze blowing and practically no discomfort
but the constant shifting of the sun's rays as the river

264 THROUGH THE HEART OF AFRICA

winds and winds again, one feels it to be fairly innocent
and even beautiful with its gently swaying, soft, unchanging
green. But those who have had any experience of the
drudgery of making one's way in a small boat along the
narrow waterways through this clogging pest-ridden vege-
tation— as we had both had, to a small extent, in the
Bangweulu swamps — can guess at its possibilities, and we
were reminded of the terrible four months spent in this
region by Dr. Milne and Captain Gage when finding a
channel through the sudd in 1898. This courageous and
perilous achievement, like too many brilliant exploits in
African history, is in danger of lapsing into oblivion.
Mr. E. S. Grogan, in his Cape to Cairo, alludes to " this
successful attempt of Captain Gage, of the 7th Dragoon
Guards, and Dr. Milne, as one of the most daring feats
ever accomplished in the history of African travel. They
suffered indescribable hardships for nearly four months,
during all of which time they hardly slept one night on
land, but were compelled to see the long hours of dark-
ness through, night after night, cramped up in a small
boat or lying on the vegetation, tormented by myriads of
mosquitoes, and with very little more substantial than
native porridge to keep their spirits up. Day after day,
nothing but that vast expanse of weed, of a hopelessness
beyond civilised conception ; day after day dragging their
boats through and over stinking bogs and spongy masses
of weed tenanted by a thousand crocodiles — not knowing
where they were, nor, in characteristic British fashion,
caring, yet ever keeping their face forward, strong in the
knowledge that perseverance must succeed. Their food
ran short, and to return was impossible. Had they not
come unexpectedly upon Major Peake's steamers they
would probably all have perished. Very few people can
ever have any conception of the magnitude and apparent
hopelessness of their task."

Though bumping first on one side and then on the
other as the current swings the steamer back and fro in
the winding and narrow channels, the passage is now free
from discomfort, but one cannot help thinking of the hard-

Inland Dinka Hut.

THE SOUDAN

265

ships of the men who first forced their way through those
channels, and whose daring and tenacity made possible the
luxurious travelling of the present day.

On the morning of the 5th the Bahr-el-Gebel was left
behind and we were steaming east towards Taufikia and
the junction of the Sobat, which we reached at 10 A.M.
The White Nile — as the river is called after the junction
of the Bahr-el-Ghazal and Bahr-el-Gebel — is here a broad
waterway, dotted with islands of floating vegetation that
have broken loose from the sudd. The land on either
side is flat and uninteresting, a few villages of the Shiluk
tribe — from which some of the finest fighting material in
the Soudanese regiments is drawn — forming the only
break in the monotony till the mission of the Austrian
Fathers is reached. Kodok, famous under its former name
of Fashoda, we reached after dark, and from which, after
a halt of a couple of hours we steamed in the peaceful
light of a starlit sky. Two days were passed during which
we met occasional nuggars, their sails and rigging reflected
with wonderful clearness in the calm river, and we reached
Costi at about midday on the 7th. Here the Nile is
crossed by the magnificent new bridge that carries the
railway from Khartoum into Kordofan. After tapping this
province, with its rich gum-producing forests, the line will
eventually reach Darfur, one of the wildest and least known
areas of Northern Africa. The bridge consists of nine
spans — eight of one hundred and twenty feet, the ninth
(the centre span which revolves to allow the larger craft
to pass) being two hundred. All along the river banks
we saw native boats being laden with the produce of the
country, and realised that a tremendous future lies before
this fertile land so suited for the cultivation of cotton,
gum, grain, and many other valuable products.

On the 9th of January, at 3 A.M., after a most comfort-
able journey through what a dozen years previously had
been one of the " darkest " stretches of the continent, we
turned up the Blue Nile and moored alongside the river
bank at Khartoum. The trip had been, thanks largely to
Mr. Archer, the engineer in charge, his management and

266 THROUGH THE HEART OF AFRICA

his catering, a most comfortable one. The only excite-
ment was caused by the things and passengers that fell
overboard. The first had been the Indian cook's infant
brother — he could swim like a fish. The second was a
sheep, which was nobly rescued by one of the crew just
as it was sinking — to be our dinner the following day.
The third was a native passenger who slipped off just as
we rounded the corner into the Blue Nile, and, in spite of
the prompt measures that were always taken on such
occasions, was never seen again.

At Khartoum we were once more among friends. The
Governor of Omdurman, Mr. Moore, had been contem-
porary with one of us (Melland) at Oxford, while his chief
assistant, Mr. Arthur Asquith, was a relative of the same.
Mr. Harold Hall, the manager of the Soudan Development
Company, we knew of as a brother of a colleague of ours,
and yet another friend and former pupil was found later
on in the King's Own Scottish Borderers,

The river at Khartoum is like an inverted Y, the tail
of the letter pointing north, the eastern branch being the
Blue Nile (Azrak), on the south bank of which lies Khar-
toum, and on the other, connected by the railway bridge
and a ferry, is Khartoum North. The western branch
is the White Nile (Abiad), and on the left bank of the
united river, just below the junction, lies Omdurman, con-
nected with Khartoum by a steam ferry-boat service.

After the battle of Omdurman and the downfall of the
Khalifa's power in 1898 an effort was made to abolish
this settlement and to unite the whole population at Khar-
toum, but prejudice was too strong, and Omdurman still
remains the centre of the native population, both perma-
nent and transitory. It is an enormous mud city, with
approximately 45,000 inhabitants, partly composed of
Arabs and Berberines, partly of almost every tribe in Africa
north of the Equator, besides generally including many
pilgrims to Mecca. Among those at the time of our visit
were 3000 Hausa from Nigeria.

The shipping firms and construction workships are in
Khartoum North on the opposite bank of the river, while

DiNKA WOMAN MAKING .MATS.

THE SOUDAN

267

Khartoum itself contains the palace standing in its beautiful
gardens, all the residences of the official and civil popu-
lation, the Government offices, the Gordon College,
barracks, cathedral, mosque, commercial houses, and
hotel.

There is only one hotel, " The Grand," and there we
took up our quarters. It is a pretentious and roomy
building on the embankment. Dinner is served in an
electrically lighted garden ; lunch and breakfast are equally
good, and second helpings can be obtained on extra pay-
ment. No objection is raised to their own servants
attending to visitors' modest requirements when the hotel
staff is otherwise engaged. For three meals and a bedroom
a charge of twenty-four shillings a day and upwards is
made.

A telephone message from Mr. Asquith invited us to
Omdurman for lunch, and crossing in Mr. Hall's convenient
little launch, we found our host and his sister in a com-
fortable mud-house which had formerly been the mess of
one of the Soudanese regiments. He had migrated thither
during his sister's visit, as the Khalifa's old palace in which
he had been living was hardly adequate to the accommo-
dation of a lady. After lunch we visited this interesting relic
of the Dervishdominion which had been his former quarters,
and were taken all over it, noting with interest the various
semi-civilised contrivances, including a fine bath with
which the Khalifa had, with the aid of European prisoners,
fitted his residence. From the topmost turret a clear view
is obtained of the half-demolished Mahdi's tomb, which
was shelled at the battle of Omdurman, and which, in the
opinion of many, should have been levelled to the ground.

All round us lay spread the city of Omdurman, with the
Kereri hills (at which the battle of Omdurman was fought)
eight miles north-west, and beyond — the desert. Omdur-
man straggles about six miles along the riverside — three
miles each side of the Khalifa's house — and two or three
miles inland. There are a few stone houses, some
finished and some not ; the remainder are built of mono-
tonous brown mud — some of it dignified by the name of

268 THROUGH THE HEART OF AFRICA

" sun-dried bricks," It consists of a variety of streets,
parallel and at right angles, and of buildings that are,
doubtless, of a variety of sizes, though from a distance it is
a brown sea of mud dwellings all about the same size and
shape ; flat-roofed, verandahless and shadeless, separated
by streets and alleys of baking sand, and backed by the
baking desert. Except here and there near the water's
edge, not a leaf or a blade of grass is to be seen. The
palace stands at the corner of a huge square enclosed by
a seven or eight foot wall of stone. A second wall, of
which only parts now remained, enclosing a much larger
space, originally contained the residences of the Khalifa's
particular followers. Most of the buildings occupied by
them, originally covering some acres between the palace
and the river bank, are now mere heaps of sand and clay
and broken mud walls, the unpopularity of the original
residents being so great that none will build or live upon
the site.

After leaving the palace we visited the native market,
which is one of the largest congregations of buyers and
sellers in Northern Africa — a maze of crowded burrows,
some ten feet broad, between rows of tiny booths in
which all manner of native work — carpets, brass ware,
pottery, food, scents, soap, cloth and wearing apparel — was
being sold by Greeks, Syrians, Armenians, Cretans, Arabs,
and natives. The roofs over the shops and alleys were in
an indescribable state of disrepair, though the booths
themselves were clean and well arranged. The whole
formed a picture as typically " Eastern " as could be ima-
gined, and emphasised, more than anything else we had
seen, the fact that we had left negro Africa behind and
had emerged into the northern part of the continent, which
seems to have been so cut off from the centre and the
south as to form a different land.

The two most interesting types were the makers of
fringes on cotton cloths, and the bead turners. The
former were tiny urchins who worked at a primitive loom
with tremendous rapidity, their feet in a pit, supported by
a rail against their stomachs. The latter used a lathe that

White Nile Bridge, the centre span swinging.

THE SOUDAN

269

was equally primitive, on which they fashioned wooden
beads, turning out, so they told our host, a string and a
half a day. One worker told us that he cleared a profit
of about 40 per cent., but the outlay was so small the
gain cannot have been more than a few milliemes a day.

Our own purchases were confined to a few ostrich
feathers at 4s. each — the Omdurman market is famous for
these, and the presence of our host and hostess prevented
us from buying inferior feathers at ridiculous prices — and
a couple of pairs of red morocco leather shoes of the local
boat-shaped pattern. In spite of the courteous and ready
manner in which the merchants and salesmen gratified
our curiosity on any matter which excited our interest, it
was difficult to carry away more than a confused memory
of the bewildering variety in each alley- way of this warren
of buyers and sellers, hawkers and their wares.

A closer inspection of the town itself was postponed
to another day, and at sunset we re-crossed the river to
Khartoum.

The following morning was spent quietly in visiting
the sights of Khartoum, notably the lifelike statue of General
Gordon in the main street, the nearly completed cathedral,
the War Office, Law Courts, and the Sirdar's palace, where
we had a stroll in the beautiful gardens, which were par-
ticularly refreshing after the glaring dust of the streets.

The next day was rather more strenuous. We rose
early and caught the 7.30 tram to the ferry, reaching
Omdurman in time for breakfast with Mr. and Miss
Asquith, after which we went to visit Mr. Moore at his
office, and chatted over old times. Then, armed with
letters of introduction from our host, we proceeded to pay
a visit to the Omdurman Primary School.

The headmaster is an enthusiast. He was obviously
delighted at having an opportunity of showing us the
establishment, and we spent something like an hour and a
half being treated to a thorough inspection and examina-
tion of each class, and of almost every pupil in it. It
was all very interesting, the tiny nippers learning " the
three R's " being especially attractive, while the admirable

270 THROUGH THE HEART OF AFRICA

discipline and keenness throughout was not the least striking
feature of the entertainment. We felt a little sorry for
the ushers who were teaching English, for they had to
expose the weak points in their knowledge of the language.
All these teachers were Egyptian, and the pupils were of
every shade from black to nearly white.

With only twenty-five minutes to spare after our tour
of the school, we had to abandon the idea of visiting
both the hospital and the survey office, and decided in
favour of the former. The Egyptian doctor in charge
received us with an eagerness that equalled that of the
headmaster. He took us into every corner of the estab-
lishment and explained with great thoroughness every
case of any interest or importance.

The hospital was of mud, the various wards being
similar in style and construction to the native houses.
This, it was explained, had been found advisable, even
though funds might be available for a more pretentious
building, as not only were the natives unable to appreciate
the luxuries of better appointed quarters, but positively
preferred and had more confidence in an establishment
that gave them accommodation more or less of the same
style as exists in their own homes. Though crudely con-
structed the hospital was scrupulously clean, excellently
managed, and apparently well equipped.

We had to hurry away so as to catch the 12.30 ferry
to Khartoum, for we had a good deal to do after lunch.

The rest of the day was spent in a little photographic
business, a visit to the gymkhana of the ist King's Own
Scottish Borderers and dinner at their mess, at the invita-
tion of one of the officers, who turned out to be an old
pupil.

January 12th was our last day at Khartoum. Though
sufficiently impressive as a testimony to the conquest of
the Soudan, the town can hardly be called either particu-
larly beautiful or particularly attractive.

The metamorphosis that has taken place during the last
ten years is striking enough. Trees are already giving or
promising grateful shade where all was once the glaring

THE SOUDAN

271

sunstruck sand. Some of the buildings would be no dis-
credit to Whitehall, but it is — and must always remain —
that uncomfortable conglomerate, a painful hybrid 'twixt
the East and West. The Gordon College, which we visited
after obtaining permits from the Civil Secretary for the
export of our guns, may be described as the finest monument
of the British occupation of the country. Carrying with
us a letter to Mr. Simpson, the Assistant Director, we were
first introduced to Dr. Andrew Balfour in the magnificent
Wellcome Research Laboratory, in which he takes such
pardonable pride.

Everything of importance was shown and explained,
and, interested as we were in tropical diseases, their causes,
their symptoms, and their cure, we were particularly grate-
ful to him and his staff for giving us the opportunity of
learning something of the resources and achievements of
so well equipped and efficient an institution of tropical
medical research.

We next visited the Museum, and then were placed in
the hands of one Artiah Effendi, an Egyptian member of
the college staff, who proved a capable and lucid cicerone
as he piloted us round the educational parts of the college,
and concluded with a visit to the workshops, where young
Soudan is learning various simple handicrafts and the practi-
cal uses of machinery for the advancement of his country.

The work is not altogether unprofitable, for the pupils
in one section were busy pressing and baling cotton for
export, while in others they were engaged in making useful
articles such as doors and window frames. Any one
interested in the practical work that is being done in this
institution should read the annual reports or some of the
articles that have been written on the subject.^ Lord
Kitchener could not have thought of a finer or more
suitable memorial to the great Englishman whose name
will always be associated with Khartoum, and the Soudan
owes him a debt of gratitude for the conception as well as
the successful execution of his idea.

1 For instance, Mr. Hamilton Fyfe's article, entitled " Educating the
Sudanese," in the NatioTial Review for October 19 10.

272 THROUGH THE HEART OF AFRICA

After dinner we drove to the station and boarded the
ten o'clock train for the north. The rolling-stock is built
on the same pattern as the Indian railways, with mosquito
screens and sun-hoods, and but for the constant head-
bumping that the inexperienced traveller suffers from the
latter, are comparatively comfortable.

At half-past five we awoke to find ourselves at Atbara,
and at eleven reached Abu Hamed. Here the railway
leaves the river and plunges into the Nubian Desert.

It is an awful thing merely to look at. The last sign
of life is quickly left behind, and for miles and miles there
opens out on either side a waste of hot nothingness
glaring into infinity.

At midday the mirages between the track and a ridge
of rocks to the east were so perfect an illusion that it was
almost impossible to believe that there really was not a
clear sheet of water something less than a mile away.

But these mocking phenomena hardly compensate for
the vacant dreariness of a tract in which even the railway
sidings are known by numbers instead of names, and sun-
set was greeted with a sigh of relief.

At a quarter to ten we ran into Wady Haifa, the
border station of the Soudan and Egypt and the terminus
of the Soudan Government railways. The next stage
was by river to Shellal ; and the mail-boat Soudan was
alongside and awaiting the embarkation of her passengers
from the train.

The train had been divided into two, one part pre-
ceding us, as we thought, to Haifa. We were therefore
rather alarmed to find on arrival that this half, in which
the boy Kasonde was ensconced, had not arrived. The
alarm was a false one, however ; the missing portion had
after all been awaiting us, and appeared in due course.

We were scheduled to leave the same night, but owing
to the vagaries of certain sandbanks down stream our
departure was postponed till dawn.

XVIII

EGYPT

Down the Nile to Shellal — Philre and the Dam — Asswin — Luxor — The
temples of Thebes and the tombs of the kings — Kamak and
Luxor temples — Abydos — Cairo — Tura — The Pyramids in sleet —
Port Said — End of our journey — Retrospect — Notes on clothes,
rifles, cameras.

The Soudan, a stern-wheeler several sizes larger than
the Gordon Pasha, and proportionally more splendid,
seemed the last word in luxurious travelling. She had
three decks, several excellent single-berth cabins, saloon,
promenade, and smoking-room, and a delightful lounge
for'ard enclosed on three sides with sliding glass doors,
giving a shelter from the keen north wind.

We sailed at dawn, and at eight passed close to the
first relic of ancient Egypt that we were to see, the temple
of Abu Simbel, hollowed from the cliffs of rock on the
Nile's right bank. Nothing of course was visible to us
but the doorway and the sixty-five foot Colossi on either
side. Though reckoned one of Egypt's finest temples, we
had, as yet, seen none of them, and in spite of feeling a
Httle tantalised, we had no idea of what we had missed.
The scenery for miles was grandly rugged, the sandstone
ranges bordering the banks now and again broken by
patches of fertile and occupied land, and here and there
on either side an ancient temple standing sentinel over
the buried past.

Our passage was to be but a hurried one. We could
scarcely hope for more than a fleeting impression of
Egypt's varied treasures, and each hour that passed
brought with it the suspicion that we might feel quite dis-
satisfied with ourselves for not making a long stay.

We reached Shellal between three and four in the

273 s

274 THROUGH THE HEART OF AFRICA

morning. As the train which was to take us on our next
stage to Luxor and Cairo did not start till after ten o'clock,
we seized the chance of a hurried visit to the temple of
Philae, within a hundred yards of which the boat had come
to anchor, and the Asswan dam. Philae, as all the world
knows, is one of the minor gems of ancient Egyptian archi-
tecture, and will soon, in all probability, be no more visible
to the tourist. Standing as it does but a mile or so above
the dam, and being even now at high-water partially sub-
merged, the raising of the dam will, sooner or later,
mean its end.

In January — as yet — it is high and dry, and despite
the prohibitive efforts of a hoary native custodian whom
we failed to convince of the retrospective properties of
" antiquity-tickets " to be obtained the following day, we
saw most of it, and probably were more impressed than
those who, coming from the north, have already seen the
finer and older specimens of Egyptian architecture. Its
preservation and its unique position — occupying an iso-
lated islet in a miniature bay — tempts one to think hard
things of the Asswan dam, but, after all, the fertility and
prosperity of Upper Egypt are of some consequence
compared with the saving of a single relic of the past.

The dam itself we had no time to more than skirt,
and we could not have gone along it, in any case, owing
to the construction work in progress, but the view we
had was enough to leave the impression that while for the
magnitude of its conception it is worthy to rank with
any of Egypt's ancient monuments, for its utility it stands
in a class of its own.

Our train left a few minutes before eleven, and after
a brief halt at Asswan, continued its journey with but short
stoppages to Luxor.

It was dusty travelling, though pleasantly cool. The
railway here runs close to the river again — between it and
the desert — and the contrast between the two sides of the
line is as marked as it could be. On the right the desolate
desert broken by shaly shingle foothills and a barren
and stony escarpment that seemed to mark the flood-

EGYPT

275

river banks ; on the left a strip of cultivated land between
the railway and the river, green and gold with crops, some
sprouting and some ripening, and gradually becoming
broader as we moved along. But the journey was, on
the whole, lacking in interest ; the narrow gauge line is
not conspicuously comfortable, and we were glad when
just before sunset we caught our first glimpse of the
temples of ancient Thebes in the west and presently
drew up at Luxor station.

Though our time was short we had no intention of
merely passing by all the gigantic glories of the past, and
had decided to break our journey and see what we could
in two or three days.

Luxor has a choice of hotels, and, ignoring the jibes
of certain of our friends at our reckless sybaritism, we
chose the Winter Palace. Its uniformed myrmidons could
barely hide their scorn at our travel-stained and battered
baggage, wondering no doubt what manner of vagabonds
they were who had the nerve to enlist their services to
handle and transport such dubious-looking articles. But
they made no audible comment, and leaving them in their
care we contrived to assume a creditable amount of self-
assurance and walked to the hotel. When we reached
it, with its enormous gleaming white front, its broad
terrace approached by a double flight of steps, all in a
soft blaze of electric light, bougainvillaea, and pointsettia,
we really wondered for a moment whether our assurance
was equal to it. Luxury for ourselves did not perhaps
appal — coming from the wilds we rather hankered after
it — but for the pagan with us — where on earth in this
brilliant mansion could a home be found for a Mid-African
mud-hut dweller ?

Our fears proved groundless. Equally suitable ac-
commodation was forthcoming for all of us, white and
black, in contrast to our experience at Khartoum ; and it
only remains to say that in every possible respect — atten-
tion,civility, cuisine, and comfort — our sojourn in the Winter
Palace Hotel left nothing to be desired. A quite excep-
tional string band, which played before and after dinner,

276 THROUGH THE HEART OF AFRICA

reminded us with a thrill that we had not heard any
orchestral music for four and five years respectively.

Securing antiquity-tickets and the services of an in-
telligent dragoman, who was to show us what he could of
the cream of things in two days and a bit, we started off
at nine next morning across the river to the city of
Thebes. Our experience of the Soudan donkey-saddle
had led us, in our ignorance of the different type in
use in Egypt, to adopt some other means of transport,
and we engaged for the first day a two-wheeled trap with
broad flat tyres and drawn by a mule — known as a
" sand-car " — which was awaiting us on the other side.
Shamandi Ahmed, our dragoman, followed on a donkey,
and Kasonde, to be shown what he might see of man's
ancient handiwork, on foot.

Passing the Colossi of Memnon seated in solitary
grandeur in the midst of a beautiful broad plain, green
with waving wheat, we proceeded to spend our first day
among the temples and the tombs of the queens.

Of the former we visited all but Der-el-Bahri ; of the
latter Shamandi took us to what he considered the two
best, as well as to the Gardener's and another tomb.

Needless to say, we shall not attempt in these pages
a description of things that are already so well known to
the travelling world, and have been described again and
again by a hundred expert pens. In our innocence we
thought that perhaps a day or two would give us a surfeit
of mouldering antiquities and massive blocks of stone, but
each step served but to whet the appetite and make keener
our regret that our stay must be so short.

The exquisite bas-reliefs, of which the weathering of
four thousand years had hardly dulled the edge, the
crowded hieroglyphic records that one aches to know and
read, the stupendous egoism personified in the gigantic
statues of the kings, the baffling problem of how and why
these pagans learnt to rear their mountains of perennial
masonry to shelter and to satisfy their cult — these are
things that must arrest and stupefy the most apathetic and
perfunctory sightseer.

EGYPT 277

Out of a multitude of wonders the fallen and shattered
statue of Rameses II. in the Ramesseum, owing to its
stupendous grandeur and the marvel of its transport from
Asswan and of its destruction by Cambyses, and the dark-
blue star-spangled sky in the ceiling of Queen Nefertari's
tomb, owing to the perfection of its colouring, were perhaps
the hardest to forget.

Shamandi, besides his varied if somewhat superficial
knowledge of the different objects most worthy of attention,
took a keen interest in our photographic ambitions, and
was full of useful hints as to the light and position that
would be best for the various objects ; and on our return
he surprised us by suggesting that we should curtail our
stay at Luxor by a day and devote the third day to a
visit to Dendra or Abydos, or both. He was evidently an
enthusiast, and, realising that we were not so unappreci-
ative after all, he did not want us to miss even the treat
that he generally kept in reserve. It meant a hard day
for Tuesday, but he had inspired us with confidence, and
we decided we should gain more than we should miss by
carrying out his suggestion.

The next morning, therefore, we started at sunrise with
the intention of "finishing" the other side of the river in
the morning and seeing Karnak and Luxor in the afternoon.

A couple of excellent donkeys besides Shamandi's
own were awaiting us on the farther bank, and before
eight o'clock we were cantering across the plain towards
the foot of the hills that hide the tombs of the kings.

Some declare that to gain the most vivid impression
of the gaunt desolation of the approach to the tombs,
the visit should be made at noon on a hot and cloudless
day, but the ride along that pass in the cool of a glorious
morning is sufficiently impressive.

The hills tower on either side of the road, amidst
gleaming and glaring red and yellow masses of forbidding
rock and sand showing no single sign of life — not a leaf
nor a stalk of vegetation, not even a solitary lizard bask-
ing in the sun. It is, in fact, an ideal place in which to
be dead.

278 THROUGH THE HEART OF AFRICA

On winds the road, trodden by countless funeral
corteges of old, till rounding a corner one reaches the
mighty cul-de-sac, hidden away in the corners of which
are the burial-places of kings. Only when the entrances
of the tombs are seen does one fully realise to what
extent seclusion and concealment were the object of the
choice. No purpose here of gratifying the eye of inquisi-
tive posterity or of leaving a monument of art or labour
for all time. Proving by their very exclusiveness their
belief in the after-life, these old barbarians were so intent
on preserving the privacy of the dead that the craftsmen
and artists of the tombs were summarily executed on
completion of their tasks lest they divulged to others the
place where their bodies and their treasures had been
entombed.

The tombs themselves are gems in an appropriate
setting : appropriate from its very contrast. Gallery after
gallery with their colours undimmed by the ages that have
passed, panel after panel of minute and close-writ hiero-
glyphics telling the history and the virtues of the dead,
shelf after shelf that once bore the lurid mummy-cases of
the embalmed remains of those who dumbly waited for
the after-life, and, crowning all, the tremendous labour of
excavation in the solid rock.

One sarcophagus, and one only, still rests undisturbed
— that of Amenhotep — and it is with a feeling that it is
something akin to sacrilege, as the light is switched on
and floods a chamber whose existence had been almost
unsuspected, that the visitor gazes through the glass cover
on the features of one who has been dead three thousand
years. No photograph, lacking colour, could, even were
there light within, give an adequate idea of the mural de-
corations of the tombs ; and an additional regret is felt
when one learns that in all probability the exposure to
the air will sooner or later make them grow dim and fade.

We felt, as we had before, that each tomb wanted
days or even weeks to see it, with perhaps just one en-
thusiastic and reverent antiquary at one's side ready to
answer every question that one wanted to ask, and keep

EGYPT

279

silent when one wished to ask no more. Our early visit
had one charm to recommend it — we were the only
visitors at that hour, but even our dragoman and an
apathetic custodian or two tended to spoil the effect. In
such places, when sympathy is lacking, one wants to be
alone.

On leaving the last of the four tombs which we visited,
we took another way back across the hills. Climbing a
steep and stony path winding up the side of the eastern
slope, and peering over the edge of a precipice near the
brink of which our way had led, we found ourselves look-
ing back into the barren depths whence we had come.
The change of route is well worth the climb. A little
more scrambling, climbing, and ascending, and an inimit-
able panorama greets the eye. The Nile, with Karnak
and Luxor on the farther side, and in the middle-ground,
on the edge of the vivid green plain, the Ramesseum^
the Colossi, the Roman remains, and at one's feet the
temple of Der-el-Bahri. The latter, with the tomb of
Queen Hatishu, was once completely buried by the falling
debris of the cliff at whose base it stands. Excavated
and partially restored, though a building of plain design,
it gives a glimpse of what Egypt in her glory may have
been.

After a brief rest we hastened back across the river
and rode out to Karnak, that wonderful mass of ruins
where amidst the wreck so much has withstood the
ravages of spoilers and of time. The pylon, the obelisks
— standing and fallen — the sacred lake with the new-
found granite scarab at its edge, and, grandest of all, the
mighty hypostyle hall which every visitor should worship
by the light of the full moon. Then, on our return to
Luxor temple, where, after a first feeling of impatience
at the modern buildings crowding on two sides, and of
disgust at the crude Coptic church in its very midst, we
drew comfort from the glories of its colonnade and the
cynicism of the yet another statue of Rameses with the
figure of his wife en miniature half-hidden behind the calf
of his colossal leg.

28o THROUGH THE HEART OF AFRICA

Weary but not sated we returned to our hotel to find
a bathetic if suitable antidote in preparation in the shape
of an impromptu dance.

Half-past five the next morning found us once more
on the move, and, swallowing a hurried breakfast, we
caught the 7.20 train to Baliana for the temple of Abydos :
for the railway service did not admit of a visit to Dendra
in the same day. In a little more than four hours, one of
which was spent driving over a flat and wind-swept plain,
we reached the village of Abydos ; and leaving our Jehu
struggling vigorously though not vainly to prevent his
steeds backing over a small precipice at the foot of the
dusty gangway that did duty for one of the main streets,
we proceeded to a leisurely enjoyment of the finest ex-
ample extant of the Ramessean period.

If only for its better preservation it has established its
claim. Within are covered bas-reliefs almost as vivid as
those in the royal tombs, while on the outer weather-
beaten walls the paintings still give a hint of their early
splendour. Massive portions of the flat slab roof are still
in their place with their wonderful deep-blue ceilings,
and the exquisite figures, scenes, and symbols covering
the limestone walls are as sharp and clear as the day
the chisel ceased its work. In parts the masonry is
blackened for several feet of its height, stained by the
accumulated rubbish of generations of a later age. Part
has been used as a Coptic church, of which little but
some rough red frescoes and inscriptions now remain,
while here and there obliterated profiles and crude
erasures bear witness to the early Christians' mischievous
intolerance of pagan art.

There was one detail in the scheme of decoration that
especially caught the eye. In two panels representing the
heads of beasts there were an oryx and reedbuck and a
reedbuck and sable respectively. There was no mistaking
the last-named beast any more than the other two, and in
view of the present zoological distribution, it would be inter-
esting to know what trace there is of a sable antelope being
found in the latitudes under Egypt's influence or sway.

EGYPT

281

At about five we drove back to Baliana to await our
train. As it was not due till after ten o'clock we had
about four hours to squander somehow, and adopted
Shamandi's suggestion that we should hie to a buffet of
which he knew, and at which he said we could obtain a
decent meal. We found his buffet in an hour's time — a
grubby wine-shop in a grubby street on the banks of the
river Nile. Its accommodation was a trifle dingy and
unsavoury, and it was crowded with noisy and not particu-
larly attractive natives of various costumes, ranks, and
shades of colour, but an inoffensive Greek proprietor, who
spoke intelligible French, promised us a meal within
an hour, and, preferring the open air to the atmos-
phere of the cabaret, we seated ourselves in a sort of
decayed bandstand across the road. It was bitterly cold,
we were annoyed by repulsive mendicants and abusive
boot-blacks, and every passing minute brought a deeper
conviction that we were going to get nothing lit to eat.
However, just when we were beginning to suspect that
we had been entirely forgotten and were going to get
nothing at all, dinner was announced, and following
Shamandi into an inner parlour, the existence of which
afforded some relief, we were served by the proprietor
with a respectably cooked meal that dispelled our fears.

We still had an hour to wait at the end of it, before
there was any object in going to the station. It would
have been a very dull wait had not Shamandi nobly
risen to the occasion, and after presenting his account
passed away the time by an entertaining sketch of some
of his experiences. He had taken a great interest in the
boy Kasonde, and was scarcely able to believe that he
was really going to England. He had estimated him to
be an infant of ten or twelve, and when he had got over
his astonishment at learning his true age (which was
nearly twenty-four) he regaled us with reminiscences of
his own early and brilliant youth. He had never been
to England, he had to admit, but he had very nearly been
to France, and as nearly to America. In the first case
it was a royal princess who had expressed a desire to

282 THROUGH THE HEART OF AFRICA

add him to her staff, and had offered his parents ;^250
for their consent. The infatuated party from across the
Atlantic had been an heiress, who had come but a Httle
later, and had been wiUing to give £joo for the privilege
of taking him home and giving him an education. In
both cases Shamandi's father had been only too ready to
let him go, but his mother had thwarted the old man's
greed for gain, and had hidden away the young Shamandi
till the danger had passed, so he was still Shamandi
Ahmed, dragoman of Luxor ; a highly accomplished
dragoman, no doubt, with all the certificates for proficiency
in his work, but without the Western polish that might so
easily have been his. His mother, he added sadly, was a
good woman, but her attitude had tried the old man too
far, and his father had divorced her, and had taken to
himself another wife.

When he dropped for a time the serious note and
became a humorist, the transition was so gradual that at
first we did not notice the change. He confided in us that
his patience was sorely tried by a certain class of visitors
who would protest airy incredulity at his facts and dates,
and would brutally declare that the paintings in the tombs
and temples were not more than six months old. In
relating the delinquencies of one party who had tried him
more than most, he described it as consisting of " One
young gennleman and one young leddy, one old gennleman,
nineteenth dynasty, sixteen hundred years before Christ,
and one old leddy, twentieth dynasty, fourteen hundred
years before Christ " ; and whenever the characters
recurred in his story he never failed to give them their
full description.

His account had been a little heavier than we had
expected : he had charged us for four days, some of them
at double rates, but as he had shown us things that occupy
the usual visitor seven to ten days, we did not complain,
and the presentation of this big account showed us a new
side of his character. When he learnt that if we paid him
in full we might be short of cash for railway charges to
Cairo, he not only readily consented to our suggestion

EGYPT

283

that part should be remitted by post on our arrival there,
but tried to persuade us to leave the whole amount in
abeyance as long as it suited us.

The loading of baggage on to the train-de-luxe in its
five-minute halt at Baliana station seemed to be a quite
unprecedented service to ask of the railway staff. In fact,
with half-an-hour to spare, it seemed at first more than
doubtful if we were even going to get ours weighed.
Eventually, however, we managed to circumvent the
obstructiveness of the station-master, whose attitude
afforded a considerable contrast to the courtesy with
which earlier in the day a senior colleague had relieved us
of ICS. for an accidentally broken window-pane, and we
got successfully away. Kasonde was in luck. The con-
ductor of the train had been in Nyasaland, Madagascar, and
Zanzibar, and still retained a smattering of Chimang'anja
and Ki-Swahili. There were no third-class compartments
on the train, but his kindly interest secured for the boy
the luxury of having a second-class carriage for his ex-
clusive use. For ourselves the wagon-lit provided what is
generally considered to be the acme of railway comfort,
though greater convenience might be secured by the sacri-
fice of a little less room to massive gaudiness and show.

At eight o'clock on an icy cold morning we arrived at
Cairo and betook ourselves to Shepheard's Hotel and a
welcome fire. Despite the warmth of our reception by an
almost lifelong friend, Mr. Maurice Moberly, Governor of
the Tura convict prison, our memory of Cairo will always
be one of cold. It was bleak, windy, sleety weather, and
about as unlike the Cairo of one's fancy as could be
imagined. This is an example of the climatic changes
that began to take place on the opening of the Suez Canal,
and, helped by the ever-increasing irrigation of Lower
Egypt, has been since growing more and more marked.
The rainfall has already increased nearly sevenfold, and
the mean temperature has become appreciably lower.

The wealth of antique treasures in the Museum — one
of the best designed and best lighted in the world — was
enchanting, but needed much more time than we had at

284 THROUGH THE HEART OF AFRICA

our disposal. The Pyramids we visited in one of the
most poisonous blizzards that man would venture out in.
It was raining fast and blowing a gale, and the rain and
wind-whirled sand stung us like whips and penetrated
everything we wore. It was impossible to enjoy or appre-
ciate anything. We had intended to climb up the Great
Pyramid, and explore it to its depths, but in that weather it
was impossible, and after a perfunctory tour half round it,
a visit to the temples of the Sphinx, with their marvellous
corners dovetailed in granite, and five minutes with the
Sphinx itself, we abandoned the effort, and forced our
way, shivering, against the hurricane, to seek tea and
warmth in the Mena House Hotel.

One of the most enjoyable incidents of our stay was a
visit to the Tura prison, the central penal settlement of
the country. The buildings, which cover a large area,
stand on the eastern bank of the Nile, a few miles out of
Cairo. They accommodate 1700 convicts, with a staff of
350, of whom the only European is the Governor him-
self. We were privileged to enjoy a complete tour of
the establishment, visiting every corner of it, and much
admired the economic management of its varied and self-
supporting departments. Before we took our leave we
witnessed an admirably executed performance of musical
drill by the sons of the warders, who are provided with a
school and free education on the premises, and we were at
once reminded of the somewhat similar performance —
the parade of the Choli cadet corps — that we had enjoyed
some weeks before.

On January 22nd we took our departure, sailing from
Port Said for Europe the same evening on board the
Orient liner Orvido, having covered in all a distance of
5688 miles in a hundred and eighty-eight days. The
journey had even exceeded our anticipations in enjoyment
and interest, and we felt no regrets at having spent our
leave in this manner, travelling through the continent.
Apart from the interest of seeing the various countries
passed in the stage of evolution that they have at present
reached, the experience gained in such an extended trip

EGYPT

cannot but be of use to us if we should be able to carry
out another journey through less known stretches of Africa.

With the exception of one carrier dismissed in the
first week of our journey through German East Africa,
and the abortive strike of our Baganda carriers near the
Victoria Nile, we had no trouble with any of our carriers.
We never had occasion to punish any of them, nor to
report any to their district commissioners. Our relations
with the chiefs, headmen, and people of every tribe were
equally satisfactory, and throughout the journey they
assisted us in every possible way, besides treating us with
friendliness and courtesy.

Every traveller has his own ideas as to outfit, so we
do not intend to add to the numerous lists of camp equip-
ment that have been published in other books, but will
content ourselves with brief notes on a few items such as
clothing, rifles, cameras, and cycles, as these may prove of
some value. We both wore drill shirts — without coats —
and shorts when trekking, and though many may disagree,
we consider this to be the most comfortable kit in which
to walk or cycle. On the shirts, which had short sleeves,
we wore spine-pads of solaro cloth, and our double terai
hats were lined with the same material (neither of us
wore helmets). Except in the bad elephant grass we had
bare legs, wearing no covering on them above our socks,
but for the two months during which we were in such
rough country, we supplemented these with puttees, or
wore stockings. One of us wore thin chrome leather
boots, one pair of which lasted throughout the journey,
while the other was shod in rubber-soled canvas boots.

Our battery consisted of, for one, a double-barrelled
.450 by Rigby, and a .350 Rigby Mauser, a shot gun, and
a .22 rook rifle ; for the other, a double-barrelled .360 by
Evans, a .310 by Greener, and a ball and shot gun ; and,
in our opinion, the .350 and .360 bore rifles are the most
useful for all-round work in Africa for everything from
elephant, rhino, and buffalo to small buck. With both
these weapons we have on more than one occasion
dropped elephants with the frontal shot, which for a long

286 THROUGH THE HEART OF AFRICA

time was considered an impossibility. The possessor of
the .450 has now changed that weapon for a double .350,
and now relies entirely on this weapon and the magazine
rifle of the same bore, while he has substituted a double
.310 by Greener for the ,22, as the latter is too small for
practical purposes, and the former is as good for small
buck as it is for guinea-fowl. The other has made no
change in his battery except to substitute a double-
barrel .310 for the single-barrelled rifle of the same bore
and make.

Our cameras deserve a passing notice. We carried,
first, a half-plate stand camera by Chapman of Manchester,
fitted with a Ross R.R. lens working at F8, which had
been in use since 1893, and is as good to-day as it ever
was (with this, Paget XXX glass plates were used, and out
of six dozen only one was broken) ; secondly, two 5 in. by
4 in. kodaks, one of which had been in use in Africa since
1901 ; and, thirdly, a panoram kodak, purchased in 1905.
For these kodaks N.C. films were used, and out of some
seventy-five dozen exposed, we had not one bad or deterio-
rated film. We found the light in British East Africa and
Uganda weaker than in Rhodesia and in German East
Africa, and considered it advisable to work — for snapshots
— on an average at Fii instead of at F.16. In the
Soudan and Egypt the light was again more powerful,
and to start with, especially with time-exposures with the
half-plate camera, we were inclined to over-expose ; but
considering the fact that our exposures varied from
to 75" we were, on the whole, very lucky. All the plates
and films were always in airtight tins, carried in wooden
boxes, as in tin trunks the heat is often more than they
can stand.

The only other items in our kit that call for any com-
ment are the bicycles and the acetylene lamps. For
the former we would recommend any one contemplating
cycling in Africa to take a light roadster of a reliable make,
with a first-class saddle, thorn-proof (pneumatic) tyres, or
roadster tyres with chrome leather bands, spare nuts,
washers, bolts, and balls, and some extra tubes and outer

EGYPT

287

covers. Heavy bicycles are a mistake, and so (we think)
are two-speed gears. As for lights, for camp life as well
as for life on an up-country station we both swear by
acetylene, and throughout the journey we relied on a
couple of miner's hand-lamps, burning the ordinary rock
carbide. Though a little more trouble than paraffin, we
have found it more economical, and the light is infinitely
superior.

XIX

SOME AFRICAN PROBLEMS

The rapid opening up of Africa by rail and river, and some reflections
on the problems that this development is presenting.

A JOURNEY through Africa in 19 lo cannot be compared
with even the shorter journeys of the great explorers.
The difficulties encountered are nothing compared with
theirs ; they are far less than they were even twelve years
ago when E. S. Grogan first travelled from the Cape to
Cairo. The line of the great lakes and the Nile is no
longer an unknown country — the slave raiders have gone
— the barbarous rule of Mwanga in Uganda is a thing of
the past — the Dervish power in the Soudan is broken.
Railways and telegraphs, steamers and motor cars are
replacing the old caravans. Well-built brick and stone
towns lighted with electric light and supplied with the
luxuries of civilisation, well-tended farms and plantations
exist where recently was nothing but savagery. But
Africa has not ceased to be interesting because it has
begun to be civilised ; on the contrary, it can be stated
without much fear of contradiction that tropical Africa is
more interesting at the present date than it has ever been,
and the problems of its future are more complex than
those of its past.

We have tried in these pages to convey some idea of
the country as it is to-day, to show something of the life
of the resident as well as that of the traveller, and to
portray the centres of civilisation as well as the still
unspoilt wilds. The reader may well ask, " What of it ?
What of this huge country that you have traversed ? Is
it well with it ? What are we doing there, and what of
the future ? What are these complex problems to which

28S

SOME AFRICAN PROBLEMS 289

you refer ? " A subject that might well occupy a whole
volume can be but touched upon in a single chapter, but
a brief survey may serve to indicate the main problems,
and provide some food for thought. As recently as ten
years ago there were many who wondered whether the
statesmen responsible for our imperial policy in the decade
from 1885 to 1894 had not made a great mistake in
assuming for Great Britain heavy responsibilities in
tropical and unhealthy Africa. To-day there are found
but few who doubt the wisdom of their action. The
results of the past ten years have more than justified our
protectorates ; there is, in fact, an ever-increasing number
who regret that greater advantage was not taken of the
vast opportunities that then presented themselves. Not
only have peace, prosperity and liberty, both religious and
civil, taken the place of war, devastation, and slavery, but
England is beginning to realise that these tropical depend-
encies are a profitable investment ; and that the possi-
bilities of Rhodesia, Nyasaland, British East Africa, Uganda,
and the Soudan have as yet only been hinted at.^

Tropical Africa is developing at a tremendous rate.
Those of us who live in it can hardly grasp the changes :
the average Englishman at home does not form a picture
of the new conditions till they have already given place
to newer ones. How many realise that already one can
travel from Antwerp to within a hundred miles or so of
Tanganyika by rail and steamer ? or that, but for three
small stretches (Ujiji-Tabora, Bukoba-Entebbe, Nimule-
Gondokoro), there is direct telegraphic communication be-
tween the Cape and Cairo ? Yet not so long ago this was
considered a wild-cat scheme. When we left Rhodesia in
July 1910 we had not heard of Elisabethville, the Belgian
town over our borders — probably it did not exist. On
our return (June 191 1) we find that it has a population

^ "We have arrived at a new era in the history of the White Man's burden.
The problem of the present and near future is the active and scientific exploitation
of the tropics. The Colonial Secretary is trustee for one of the greatest under
veloped estates in the world." — Noel Buxton in The Nation. "The struggle
for the control of the tropics during the later years of the Victorian era proved our
tropical colonies to be of political and commercial necessity to the Empire." — The
Broad Stone of Empire, by Sir Charles Bruce.

T

290 THROUGH THE HEART OF AFRICA

of 1 200 and boasts a daily newspaper ! In the eastern
half of the continent the rapid construction of railways
is not only an indication of progress and enterprise, but
it is pre-eminently the most notable feature of the present
day, and is probably almost unparalleled. It may be
years before there is a through line from the Cape to
Cairo, but the basis of the scheme that Cecil Rhodes first
propounded to a sceptical world is already nearly a fait
accompli. Nearly two-thirds of the main route has been
covered, while connecting links with the coast are coming
in at every side,^ and the day of the branch line has
already begun — from Port Soudan to Khartoum, from
Jibouti to the heart of Abyssinia, from Mombasa to the
Victoria Nyanza, with a branch to Fort Hall, the German
lines from Tanga and from Dar-es-Salam, and the Shire
Highlands Railway. From the West Coast the Lobito
Bay line is being pushed on to Katanga to meet the
northern extension of the Rhodesia Railways which are
already creeping on from Elisabethville to Kambove, and
these will connect before long with the Congo route from
Boma to Albertville. Later there is little doubt that the
whole system will link up with Tanganyika, Victoria and
Albert Nyanzas, and form a continuous network of rail-
way and steamer routes connecting every place between
Elisabethville and Mahagi with the coast. In the interior
the Jinja-Kakindu Railway is linking up Bunyoro with the
East Coast, and will soon be part of a through communi-
cation between Alexandria and Mombasa. The Soudan
Railway has advanced up the Blue Nile to Sennar, and
has now cut across the White Nile and is pushing on
into Kordofan. Steamers run on all the great lakes : the
White Nile is navigated by stern-wheelers to Rejaf, the
Blue Nile to Roseires, the Sobat to Gambela, and the
Bahr-el-Ghazal to Wau. From Butiaba to Nimule, and
from Kakindu to Foweira, steamers also ply.

It is a long list, but it is not complete, and before

* In 1900 Rhodes wrote, " The object is to cut Africa through the centre, and
the railway will pick up trade all along the route. The junctions to the east and
west coasts, which will occur in the future, will be outlets for the traffic obtained
along the route of the line as it passes through the centre of Africa."

SOME AFRICAN PROBLEMS

291

one has grown accustomed to the prospect of all these
lands being thrown open to civilisation and development
it will be out of date, Africa has been moving fast since
the century began — a glimpse at the experiences of the
first traveller from the Cape to Cairo is sufficiently con-
vincing of that — but the rate at which it has already
advanced is nothing compared to that at which it is going
to advance during the next few years. No effort should
be spared, therefore, to understand and master the various
problems that face us. We Europeans have taken upon
ourselves to govern Africa ; we have made ourselves re-
sponsible for the country. Are we doing our best for
it and with it ? Are we going to continue to do so,
and on what general lines should its development
proceed ?

In a discussion on the future of this part of Africa
we may exclude the questions involving political problems
of international interest, such as the future of Abyssinia,
and the " storm-centre " of Darfur and the Senoussi. The
questions that are imminent are those touching the regions
already under definite control and awaiting development —
the settlement of a European population, the labour ques-
tion, the relations between black and white, the treatment
and use of the natives, and our right to, and rights in,
the territories we are administering. With regard to the
first, enough is already known of East and Central Africa
to dispose of the old fiction that it is necessarily and in-
evitably the white man's grave. The greater portions
of Rhodesia, the Belgian Congo highlands, and the western
parts of British East Africa at any rate are suitable for
European settlement ; they are, indeed, more suitable than
many parts of South Africa. The climate is admirable,
the soil fertile, and the rainfall adequate. Their accessi-
bility grows each succeeding year, and their healthiness
is, with one exception, rapidly becoming only a matter of
experience and care. The one exception that must be
borne in mind is the Sleeping Sickness. There is, how-
ever, a reasonable hope that the discovery of a remedy
is but a matter of time, and may quite conceivably soon

292 THROUGH THE HEART OF AFRICA

be an accomplished fact. There is also the consolation
that, whether or not the scourge has been effectually
checked, there is a considerable choice of territory that
is either free from suspicion, or where a reasonable amount
of care can avert the risk.

The prospects of stock-raising are also at present com-
plicated by the existence of the tsetse fly {Glosswa
Mo7-sitans) in some districts that are otherwise eminently
suitable for cattle, but this has already yielded in many
instances to the effects of progress and civilisation, and,
although possibly slow, its extermination may also in time
be effected. The possibihties of the land have already
been touched upon. The prospects of cattle-raising and
cotton and rubber cultivation in Northern Rhodesia, of
cotton, tea, and rubber in Nyasaland, of sisal and rubber
in German East Africa, are more than good. Forest
timber and rubber, as well as the great mineral wealth in
the Congo, are attracting deserved attention. Uganda
has proved beyond dispute its eminent suitability for
plantations of rubber, cocoa, coffee, and cotton. The
highlands of the East African Protectorate have a future
for the cultivation of wheat, sisal, wattle, and other crops,
as well as for raising cattle, sheep, and ostriches, while the
lowlands are being successfully exploited for the produc-
tion of cotton and rubber. The Soudan already produces
great quantities of cotton, gum, and other valuable pro-
ducts. The development of the Congo has been retarded,
but if the indication that its future is going to be regu-
lated on sound lines is a true one, its progress will be
one of great rapidity. Every section of its eastern system
of communications will soon be linked not only with each
other but with the ocean at Boma, Lobito Bay, and Beira.
The opening up of these profitable territories will attract
a large population, and involve the settlement of a variety
of problems.

In the selection and admission of the settler himself
the greatest care will for many.years have to be exercised.
Men of little or no experience or training, and with an
insufficient capital, will only be encouraged to their own

SOME AFRICAN PROBLEMS 293

ruin. Africa is essentially not — except within narrow
limits — a country for unskilled white labour ; this is and
must always be to a large extent the province of the
indigenous population. It offers rather an opportunity
for men who are trained artisans, or who are capable
of the role of overseer — men who can manage, teach, and
extract work from others.

The allocation of land, and the terms on which it is to
be held, must be reasonable, equitable, and encouraging.
Land should be granted as far as possible as freehold —
the disadvantages to the serious ambitions of the settler of
leasehold property in a new country are sufficiently
patent without labouring the point. Huge grants of land
to syndicates and companies who intend to wait for the
rise of land values and then speculate should be as
rigorously discouraged as the system of granting strips
along the line to railway companies in lieu of subsidies.

The birth of the Union of South Africa has brought
a factor into the consideration of the future of the conti-
nent that may possibly make itself felt even beyond the
Zambezi River. The extension of the North American
Union from a beginning of thirteen small States to its
present dimensions was originally neither foreseen nor
intended, and it is quite possible that those who are con-
cerned in the preservation of the identity of the South
Central African dependencies will have a considerable
force to reckon with in the future.

With the opening up of these new lands will arise the
question as to what extent is the future of an exclusively
European settlement justified. The Indian immigration
problem has already proved acute in parts of South Africa,
and there have not been wanting indications that other and
almost equally habitable portions of pacified Africa have
been regarded with covetous eyes by a section of the
public which apparently holds that because something that
we have is good most of it ought to be given to some one
else. The service that a portion of the population of
India has done in the opening up of the East Africa and
Uganda Protectorates is considerable, and is denied by

294 THROUGH THE HEART OF AFRICA

none. Their employment on the Uganda Railway ren-
dered possible an achievement that without them would
probably have had to wait for years, while their highly
developed trading instinct and ability to live on almost as
little as the natives themselves have paved the way for
European trade in the interior to a very valuable degree.
But at the same time it is a most unnecessarily altruistic
policy that would, in return, offer them the unrestricted
immigration into and occupation of a country that they
have, either for attractive pay or for their own ends,
incidentally helped to develop. The bricklayer or mason
is a valuable and indispensable factor in the construction
of a palace, but the most philanthropic of owners could
hardly be expected to offer him, except indirectly, a share
in the joys and luxuries of the completed edifice. The
claim of the Indian population to unrestricted settlement
on equal terms to those granted to Europeans cannot be
seriously considered, and it is difficult to see that they
would have any just cause for complaint if they were to be
entirely prohibited from acquiring land, at any rate in such
parts as are suitable for European settlement. The immi-
gration of Indian races to the lower and more tropical
regions is on a different footing. If there should be
sufficient reason to maintain that overcrowding in India
calls for some outlet, then parts of British East Africa
might be found for their settlement. But such a step
should not be hastily decided on, for it must not be for-
gotten that as it was the British and not the Indian tax-
payer who has borne the expense connected with acquiring
these lands, it is he that is entitled to a prior claim. The
European, too, is beginning to make good his claim to the
fertile coast belt on the Indian Ocean, and to the tract
known as Jubaland, which promises to become a miniature
Egypt. The assistance to trade rendered by Indians is
due to the fact that they can dispense with the comforts
that are a sine qua non to European settlers in Africa, and
as they come to the country to make money, and spend
less in it than their European rivals, sending all their
money home to India, it is difficult to see that they have

SOME AFRICAN PROBLEMS 295

any claim beyond that of not being hampered by special
regulations and restrictions relative to trading.

The problem of paramount importance, however, is
the native problem, though it is by no means universally
assigned its proper place. That the stay-at-home student
of African affairs should be unable to realise the actual
position and exigencies is not altogether surprising, but it
is also not uncommon to find residents in the country
whom it seems to have escaped, that the native problem
not only even now affects every phase of African life, but
is one that in the future "is likely to become rather more
than less acute. When the subject of the development
and settlement of Africa is under discussion it is not
unusual to hear the question put, " What right have we to
the land ? What right have we to take it from the natives
whom we found in possession, and to use it ourselves ?
What benefit is our occupation conferring upon them ? "
Some even go further, and, on hearing it urged that at any
rate our administration means peace and comparatively
sound government where formerly there was nothing but
bloodshed and grotesque injustice, uncompromisingly deny
the right of any nation to impose upon even the lower
grades of humanity any form of government other than
that which they have already chosen to adopt. Abandon-
ing the task of correcting by argument a dogma that
would deny to every unhappy section of humanity, white
or black, the opportunity of amelioration afforded by the
assistance or interference of their more fortunate and
enlightened fellows, and would deprive a nation of even
its cherished mite of altruism, let us examine for a moment
the right by which Britain and the other European powers
claim a share in the wealth of Africa. It is, in fact, so
simple that to those who have any knowledge of the
history and traditions of the African tribes it is a wonder
that it is ever asked. The right of the European nations is
very nearly the same as that of the natives whom they
found in possession : only very nearly, because in reality
it is better. Every tribe that has on the advent of the
European powers been found in possession or claiming

296 THROUGH THE HEART OF AFRICA

possession of any portion of African territory, except a
few like the Pygmies of the Semliki and Congo forests,
the Watwa of the swamps in Northern Rhodesia, and the
Bushmen, has based that claim on comparatively recent
conquest and on nothing else. Force was everything ;
might was right. The further conquest by the European
nations has been sometimes accompanied by bloodshed,
but to a very large extent by none. Are they to be denied
the rights of conquest because their victory has been a
peaceful or a peace-producing one ?

The native conqueror either arrived because of pressure
from outside — the pressure that gives rise to migration —
or else owing to motives of greed. The white conqueror
has generally invaded their country primarily in the in-
terests of humanity,^ but even when he has extended his
possessions with less unselfish motives he has brought
liberty, security, and peace, where he found slavery, rapine,
and war. There can be no question about the white
man's right ; the admission of it by the natives themselves
could not be more frank or complete : and even Britain,
the greatest criminal of all, if the annexation of African
territory is to be called a crime, earns no worse title than
that of " Land-grabber " amongst the rivals whose energy
or enterprise or altruism has proved itself a shade less
profitable. The claim of the civilised conqueror is
strengthened by another fact : the native population is,
almost without exception, an unprofitable proprietor of
the land. Their wants are simple, and the area huge out
of all proportion to their numbers, and even such portions
as are cultivated are generally treated in such crude and
ignorant methods, as hardly to redeem them from the
condition of waste lands. They need but a fraction of
the land, and they are quite unable to make the best as
yet of what they have, or to trace and develop the hidden
resources of the country. When they have learnt to make
the best of what they have they will be able to do with

^ This was especially the case in Nyasaland and in Uganda : and when there
was some talk of abandoning the latter country in i S92, the Anti-Slavery Society
was amongst those who protested and urged its retention.

SOME AFRICAN PROBLEMS

even less than they now occupy. Is it reasonable that
huge tracks of fertile land to which the former proprietors
had no better claim should be abandoned by its present
conquerors to indolent and unprofitable occupation by
savages who cannot appreciate, utilise, or absorb ? The
very idea of such dog-in-the-manger occupation must
surely be Anathema Maranatha to the legislator of the
present day. And yet — such is their paradoxical incon-
sistency— it is chiefly the supporters of recent legislation
(under which the owner of unprofitably held land is to be
so heavily penalised that he is obliged to give it up) who
descant upon the iniquity of the settlement of " native "
lands.

We have, however, maintained that our claim is even
better than that of the former conquerors of the land, and
we base this superiority of claim on the premise that our
dominion is, in effect, for the good of humanity, and for
the benefit of the natives whom we have brought under
our sway. To make this good we have a duty to perform. i
Our duty is to help and advance the country, raise the
level of morality of its inhabitants, and give them the
advantage of so much of our civilisation as they are able
to absorb. How much that is, is a matter of consider-
able controversy. It is, however, beyond question that
the African negro is, and perhaps must be for centuries,
incapable of a standard that is anything but low. His
nature has been described as that of a child, and it has
been described as partly that of a woman and partly that
of a child, but, although there is truth in both similes, it
also largely approximates to that of an adult of arrested
and even distorted development.

Before comprehensive schemes are formulated for the
civilisation of the negro, facts must be recognised, or failure
and confusion are bound to result. Like the domesticated
animal, he is an admirable institution in his place, but
those who have failed to realise his limitations are obviously

^ " It is incumbent on him (the white man) to see that his influence is not
destructive only. . . . He should do his utmost to direct into the right paths
the force which he is unloosing." — The South African Natives, by the S.A.
Native Races Committee.

298 THROUGH THE HEART OF AFRICA

unqualified to adjudicate upon the question of his destiny.
Not only does it stand to reason that animate beings who,
since their evolution from protoplasm, have been guided
by little but the most distorted principles of justice and
humanity, must of necessity be unable to emerge at a
bound, and take their place with those whose enlighten-
ment has been progressing for some two thousand years,
but there is actually scientific proof that the negro is at
present physiologically incapable of more than a limited
moral and intellectual development.^ The conformation of
the negro's skull shows that it is as obviously futile to
expect him to attain a European standard of civilisation
and culture as to require a crew of paddlers to propel the
latest Dreadnought, or a fretwork machine to do the work
of a steam-saw. Within limits everything that is possible
should be done, and it is indeed as much to the advantage
of the white colonist as it is to that of the native that it
should be done. The simple virtues of honesty, industry,
and reliability can and should be diligently instilled, but in
the attempt to raise his moral status it should be borne in
mind that he is in a sense in statu piipilari, and that he
needs careful and unremitting supervision and discipline
to an even greater extent than does the schoolboy of
civilised nations.

Even at his present stage of development the native
as a worker is invaluable to the development of his country.
Purely manual labour is largely his monopoly, and will
probably have to remain so, though training and discipline
should make him far more efficient. In the lower branches
of skilled labour he is already beginning to take a useful
place. Here again we tread close on controversy, but
without entering into a discussion of the extent to which,
even for economical reasons, he should be encouraged to
do work at which the white man can earn a living wage,
one may draw attention to the departments in which he
is already being profitably employed, and in which his
employment might with excellent results be still further

^ "A negro cannot by any amount of civilizing be evolved into a European."
— Dr. Keltic in The Partition of Africa.

SOME AFRICAN PROBLEMS

299

extended. In Nyasaland and Northern Rhodesia his
service as clerk, typist, and artisan is an invaluable asset.
He is imitative rather than initiative, but he is capable of
getting through a protracted amount of mechanical copy-
ing and drudgery that relieves the white man to a con-
siderable degree of the dull tedium of his work. In
Uganda and the East African Protectorate this work is
still mainly performed by Indian and Goanese. It is
especially surprising that in so advanced a country as the
former little use has yet been made of the local material
in this respect. From the general standard of the native
population it is reasonable to suppose that the necessary
training would be a matter of but little difficulty. The
results would be more economical and presumably of
greater benefit to the country than the employment of
aliens, and the substitution of natives for Indians would
be free from the objection that has been made In other
parts, that the employment of native clerks and artisans is
taking the bread out of the white man's mouth.

For the formation of a native army there may at
present seem to be but little need, but it might conceiv-
ably occur, and it is a question whether we are not wast-
ing our opportunities of making the best of the material
at our command. France is utilising to a remarkable
degree the fighting forces in her West African possessions,
and we might well consider the advisability of following
her example. Military training is a thing that the
African native takes to with considerable readiness — as
has been proved in the Soudanese regiments, the King's
African Rifles, and the Northern Rhodesia Police — and
the discipline itself would be an educative influence
that is not to be disregarded. The Baganda are, by
treaty, under an obligation to serve as a militia when
called upon, but though they have on one occasion shown
a striking readiness to fulfil their contract, they are quite
untrained, while the resources of many another warlike
tribe have as yet been scarcely tapped. But it is in his
capacity as an unskilled workman that the native is at
present, as he will be for all time, attracting and demand-

300 THROUGH THE HEART OF AFRICA

ing the most serious attention. The development of
Africa, given capital and enterprise, depends upon the
native labour supply, and upon relatively little else/ The
chief difficulty in the labour problem consists in the
obstinate and patent fact that the native requires to-day
so little for his maintenance that, left alone, he has
neither need nor desire for employment. The obvious
remedy is not to leave him alone, and there are a hundred
reasons, many of which have already been touched upon,
why he should be taught and encouraged to work.^ If
this can be done without creating too hurriedly a variety
of new and purchaseable wants, so much the better. His
wants need developing gradually, so that he can begin to
feel the need for things that tend to raise him in the social
scale rather than things which only lend themselves to
incongruous adornment. The evolution of efficient
methods of stimulating, organising, and regularising the
labour supply of the eastern half of the continent is a
problem that is exercising Governments and employers
from Egypt to the Cape. Great progress has been made
in the last few years, and from large districts, the very
boundaries of which the inhabitants vi^ere too timid or too
unenterprising to cross, gangs of labourers are now pro-
ceeding to the mining, railway, and agricultural centres
that depend so largely upon their aid.

But the real work is only beginning, and great care
and foresight must be exercised if the best is to be ex-
tracted from the material at hand. A very large degree
of parental supervision must for an indefinite time be
necessary during the whole period of the natives' employ-
ment as well as while travelling to and from the place of
employment. The task of equitable distribution to the
various centres of industry is no easy one, and may
well grow in difficulty as development proceeds. But

* " The core of most problems connected with the opening up of Africa is cheap
labour." — Sir H. H. Johnston in George Grenfell and the Coirgo. " Without
labour we cannot develop the continent, and if we cannot get the native to
work, what is to become of Africa ?" — Dr. Keltie in The Partition of Africa.

* "Labour is good for the people, but only if they find some satisfaction in
it ... a healthy commerce should be fostered." — George Grenfell and the Congo
(1894).

SOME AFRICAN PROBLEMS 301

the possibility of a distribution of labour leading to a
redistribution of population must be for many reasons
rigorously guarded against, and repatriation must be
regular and unfailing. An almost equally important con-
sideration is the restriction and equalisation, as far as
possible, of the rates of pay. The situation has not yet
become generally acute, but it requires careful handling,
or there will be a risk of a variety of scales of wages
coming into existence as widely divergent as the localities
at which the labour is employed. Especially is this risk
apparent where rapid development or a promise of
rapid development attracts a sudden influx of capital, and
creates an abnormal demand for labour. The township
of Elisabethville is a case in point. Here, in a settlement
barely twelve months old, wages and consequently prices
are ruling as high as if not higher than in the notoriously
expensive city of Johannesburg, although the surrounding
country has enjoyed for years rates of pay which are as
low as any in Africa. To obtain this equalisation of
wages as well as the distribution of labour, highly organised
and well-managed Labour Bureaux have already been
found indispensable, and their institution might well be
extended to other of our African dependencies — for instance,
the East Africa Protectorate, where labour is largely in
demand by two distinct classes of employer, and the pre-
carious nature of the supply is beginning to be seriously
felt.

The Labour Bureau cannot be an independent com-
mercial undertaking ; it must either be a recognised de-
partment of the Government, or the Government must
keep it very largely under its control. An independent
institution cannot be expected or allowed to exercise the
influence necessary to gain its ends ; its action must within
limits be arbitrary, or a highly important branch of
national industry is liable to be shelved. Mineral wealth
is a huge and undeniable asset. Mine development
attracts capital and population, and brings with it the con-
struction of railways, but it must be regarded as a means
to an end rather than the sole ambition of a fertile country,.

302 THROUGH THE HEART OF AFRICA

and precautions should be taken lest its temporarily
higher paying power hamper or overwhelm the agri-
cultural enterprise on the fruits of which the final and
lasting prosperity of the colonies must rest. As Rhodes
remarked in 1893, "There is a bottom to every mine !"

The methods and principles of native administration
form a subject of inexhaustible interest and vast im-
portance, on which all, from the hurried visitor to the
oldest resident, are almost equally prepared to dogmatise,
and almost equally certain to be met with contradiction.
The government of the African natives is not a difficult
task, but the study of the natives themselves is so com-
plicated, and their attitude such a fantastic mixture of
frankness and reticence, innocence and cunning, that
every succeeding year spent amongst them serves but
to convince the student of the shallowness of his know-
ledge and the depth and difficulty of all there is left to
learn. That they are easy to govern in spite of it may
be taken to be largely due to two facts — that though
they understand the white man quite as little as he under-
stands them, they accept him, as they have always accepted
those who have proved themselves stronger or superior,
as something in the immutable order of things, and even
more — they accept him as something superhuman, some-
thing almost divine. Their readiness to submit to autho-
rity, then, predisposes them to docility, and if the white
man's rule is conducted on principles of justice and
humanity — even though his ideas of justice may be at
variance to their own, as they often are^ — the difficulties of
government are already largely overcome. But this con-
dition must be strictly and conscientiously fulfilled : there
must be sympathy and understanding as far as may be
between the rulers and the ruled : ^ justice must be
strictly dispensed and the dignity of the white man
rigorously upheld. The latter is not difficult while the
numbers of the governing race are few, but the influx

^ " Our administration of justice can never appear to the Kafir as satisfactory."
—Dudley Kidd.

* "An Administrator must understand the native point of view." — Andrew
Lang.

SOME AFRICAN PROBLEMS

303

of a population of all grades and principles brings com-
plications, and it is then that the discipline has to be, if any-
thing, more rigorous, and a just balance firmly maintained.

The chiefs and any existing organised system of con-
trol should be utilised to the greatest possible degree, but
it should be under the guidance and supervision of the
white man, who should keep in touch with the populace
and rigorously avoid the role of a mere receiver of
revenues and an administrative figure-head. That the
benefits to the natives themselves of European occupa-
tion— if not the right of conquest — justify the imposition
of a monetary tax can scarcely be open to discussion.
The principle of foregoing its collection just so long as a
people can govern itself and manage its own affairs in
an orderly manner without assistance or interference is
sound, but there are few if any such cases now in ex-
istence, and it follows that the payment by tribes who are
brought under the control of civilised nations, and whose
welfare and good government is consulted, of a contribu-
tion towards the working cost of the administrative
machinery is merely a matter of course. If any are dis-
posed to cavil at the justice of this we would remind
them that very few — and those the lowest types — have
ever at any time enjoyed immunity from some sort of
tribute or tax ; that as a rule their enforced contributions
entailed considerably greater hardships and were based
upon far less obvious rights than are their present obliga-
tions ; ^ and that the relaxation or abolition of all tangible
sign of their submission would be as demoralising for
them as it would be suicidal for us.

Native administration is complicated at present by the
variety of languages or dialects spoken by the different
tribes. It is to a considerable extent also the reason of
the incapacity for combination, which has rendered the
pacification of African territories so rapid, and so little
hampered by insurrection and revolt. At the same time,

1 " They sacrifice their own private gains and private ideas for the good of
the State. . , . The people readily and willingly pay their way, they support
their chiefs and even glory in the self-sacrifice it entails." — Dudley Kidd.

304 THROUGH THE HEART OF AFRICA

though the knowledge of its own particular language is
indispensable for the present to the man who is devoting
himself to the administration of any particular tribe, there
is little doubt that a lingua franca or two or three liiigitce
franca: for general purposes must come sooner or later.
The hybrid jargons growing daily in popular use, such as
" kitchen Kafir " or the Ki-Swahili of the interior, are as
repugnant in nature as they are limited in range, but as
communications improve and civilisation proceeds a more
or less general medium must and will in the natural
course of things eventually be evolved.

It would not be fair to conclude a book which deals,
however briefly and inadequately, with some of the features
and problems of parts of Africa without some allusion to
the past and present services of that body of men whose
pioneer work amongst the savage inhabitants has been
of such invaluable assistance in the pacification and re-
generation of the continent. It is easy to criticise the
work of Missions in Africa ; it is easy, and too common,
to pick out isolated instances of failure in their ambitions,
to ascribe to their direct influence the recrudescence in
the sophisticated and half-educated native of the unre-
generated traits which their most patient training has not
quite eradicated or subdued ; it is easy to hold up to
ridicule and contempt an instance here and there of not
quite unselfish devotion to the cause ; and it is not diffi-
cult to point a comparison between the ease and comforts
of the lives of some of the African devotees and those of
their fellow-workers in the slums of our great European
cities. But it is as impossible to deny the general and
almost universal good that is now being done as to belittle
the heroic and self-sacrificing enterprise that has in many
quarters smoothed the path and opened the door to paci-
fication and good government. The influence of Chris-
tianity in Uganda, for instance, has been of immense value,
not only for its intrinsic worth and its improvement of the
morals of a most immoral race, but as a barrier against
the encroachment of Mohammedan propaganda. The
Church Missionary Society, the Universities Mission, the

SOME AFRICAN PROBLEMS 305

Peres Blancs, the London Missionary Society, the United
Free Church, and other denominations have done and are
still doing patient and valuable work in the continent.
There has at times been friction, and there has at times
been a tendency to step beyond a purely non-political
sphere, but the present situation is generally marked by
broad-minded tolerance, consistent with the maintenance
of the highest principles, and a willingness to assign
spiritual and temporal matters to their proper provinces.

But there can be no hard and fast line between a
sound and rational missionary policy and a sound and
rational administration among the African natives. Every
European in Africa is a missionary, and though he may
not be engaged in preaching the gospel, his high example
and jealous guardianship of the dignity of his race must
have an elevating and civilising effect, and serve to justify
his claim to regenerate and enjoy the conditions and re-
sources of the vast territories upon which he has imposed
his sway.

Printed by Ballantvne, Hanson <j= Co.
Edinburgh <S--- London

I